I’d definitely sign a petition for this. > On 22 Jan 2018, at 14:07, Therese Quinn <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > 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] <mailto:[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/ <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 athttp://futureofmuseums.blogspot.ca/2015/06/unsafe-ideas-building-museum-worker.html <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 Septemberhttp://blog.orselli.net/2017/09/why-i-left-museum-field-guest-post-by.html <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 <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/ <https://miscellaneousmuseology.wordpress.com/> > Solving Museum Worker Task Saturation Blog http://solvetasksaturation.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/hello-world/ <http://solvetasksaturation.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/hello-world/> > > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 <http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1> > > > -- > The task of teachers, those obscure soldiers of civilization, is to give to the people the intellectual means to revolt. 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