Great idea! I love this and I'd sign on to any statement to this effect. As
a side note, my doctoral research surveys of museum workers revealed that
museum workers of color planned to leave the field at a higher rate than
others.

Therese Quinn

On Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 11:17 AM, Paul C. Thistle <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Dear Colleagues: [Cross-posting indulgence coveted]
>
>
>
> Some listers may recall the now 4-month old trending issue concerning
> museum workers leaving the field because of unsustainably low wages & the
> exploitative overwork expected in our field.
>
>
>
> These days, “time poor” museum practitioners seem to have lapsed into
> silence on such issues.
>
>
>
> In this light, may I suggest that individuals who remain concerned & who
> plan to attend upcoming national and/or regional museum association annual
> general meetings consider introducing resolutions requesting action like
> the following.
>
>
>
> Any willing movers & seconders are encouraged to massage the wording of
> the following draft resolution—or write your own!—to suit the particular
> museum organisation.
>
>
>
> Understand; these problems will never be solved if museum workers say or
> do nothing about them. *Action* is absolutely necessary!
>
>
>
> *DRAFT Resolution for Professional Museum Organisation Annual General
> Meetings:*
>
>
>
> WHEREAS: museum institutions have an ethical duty to “protect” employees
> [and volunteers too] on the same level of importance as collections
> (International Council of Museums 2004: 1; American Association of Museums
> 2000: 2),
>
>
>
> WHEREAS: retention of emerging and mid-career museum professionals in this
> field anecdotally is problematic due to unsustainably low pay levels
> compounded by unreasonable expectations to overwork (Milldrum 2017; Merritt
> 2015),
>
>
>
> AND WHEREAS: an informal survey of 1,067 museum workers has found evidence
> that, of those respondents who no longer work in the field, 65% reported
> low pay and 33% reported poor work/life balance among multiple reasons for
> leaving their museum jobs (Ocello *et al*. 2017: 6; Erdman *et al*. 2017),
>
>
>
> *THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:*
>
>
>
> This annual general meeting of [INSERT NAME OF ORGANISATION HERE] direct
> the Executive to investigate, partner with like regional, national, and
> international professional museum organisations to plan and carry out
> formal research on museum workers at all levels and, based on the results
> of such research, then plan and take best effort actions to address any
> substantive pay (e.g. Nonprofit Quarterly 2014) and quality of working life
> issues identified by the research to ensure that the problems identified
> are addressed effectively at the earliest possible dates.
>
>
>
> *References Cited:*
>
>
>
> American Association of Museums. 2000. * Code of Ethics for Museums*.
> Washington: American Association of Museums.
>
>
>
> Erdman, Sarah *et al*. 2017. “Leaving the Museum Field.” Alliance Labs
> blog [American Alliance of Museums] posted 22 September
> http://labs.aam-us.org/blog/leaving-the-museum-field/  .
>
>
>
> International Council of Museums. 2004. ICOM * Code of Ethics for Museums*.
> Paris: International Council of Museums.
>
>
>
> Merritt, Elizabeth. 2015. “Unsafe Ideas: Building Museum Worker Solidarity
> for Social Justice.” Center for the Future of Museums Blog posted 2 June at
> http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.ca/2015/06/unsafe-
> ideas-building-museum-worker.html .
>
>
>
> Milldrum, Claire. 2017. “Why I Left The Museum Field: A Guest Post By
> Claire Milldrum.” ExhibiTricks: A Museum/Exhibit/Design Blog posted 11
> September http://blog.orselli.net/2017/09/why-i-left-museum-field-
> guest-post-by.html .
>
>
>
> Nonprofit Quarterly. 2014. [Pay deficits in the case of women in museum
> work for example are well-documented. *Nonprofit Quarterly* March 2014
> reporting on National Center for Arts Research found that women leading art
> museums “earn 79 [to 71 for small museums] cents on the dollar paid to male
> peers,” The GuideStar 2013 Nonprofit Compensation Report finds similar
> differential between pay for men compared to women across all categories.
> 2012 American Association of Museums study reports women make 78%.]
>
>
>
> Ocello, Claudia *et al.* 2017. “Why are Great Museum Workers Leaving the
> Field? Survey by Claudia Ocello, Dawn Salerno, Sarah Erdman, & Marieke Van
> Damme.” https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_
> aHdxmG0Jdb4deqsjyhH9eoDUIPXz_EdkU-7gWuXDwE/edit?usp=sharing .
>
> Respectfully yours
>
>
> Paul C. Thistle
>
>
> Critical Museology Miscellanea Blog https://miscellaneousmuseology.
> wordpress.com/
>
> Solving Museum Worker Task Saturation Blog http://solvetasksaturation.
> wordpress.com/2012/08/05/hello-world/
>
>
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-- 
The task of teachers, those obscure soldiers of civilization, is to give to
the people the intellectual means to revolt. [Louise Michel / 1830-1905 /
Mémoires / 1886]

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