The Art Gallery of Ontario, where I work, has two unions. CAW (Canadian
Auto Workers) for our security staff, and OPSEU (Ontario Public Service
Employees Union) for the rest of the staff except, of course, management &
certain executive assistants & finance staff. The result? Perhaps the best
salaries in our field in the country.
At 04:43 PM 7/28/98 -0500, you wrote:
>This last comment sparked a question that I have been meaning to ask --
>how many of you are employed by or know of a non-profit or museum that
>has a union for its employees?
>
>The institution I work for has been presented with a petition from
>employees to unionize -- an official vote is just weeks away. Based on
>the research I have done (unions, National Labor Relations Act, SEIU
>local 46, etc.) -- a union would not be in the best interest of a
>non-profit arts organization nor its employees.
>
>What are some of your thoughts?
>
>DeAnn Gould
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ross Weeks [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 1998 4:06 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: The Value of an M.A. - $7.25/hr?
>
> I agree entirely with Elizabeth and some others. Yes, museums
>"ought" to
> try to pay more. Many "ought" to learn to get by with fewer
>staff, and pass
> the savings on to those whose positions are essential.
>Hundreds can afford
> only one staff member, not always fulltime. These are
>wonderfully rewarding
> places for a professional to work.
>
> No, it's not simply a matter of trustees raising more money, as
>someone
> suggested. There are too many cultural organizations in most
>communities
> competing for the same pool of philanthropy. Yes, lots of our
>most
> thoughtful trustees and donors COULD give lots more money. So
>could
> corporations. They probably won't, and never have.
>
> To encourage museum people to organize, in the fashion of
>dockworkers and
> coalminers, as one writer suggested, will simply shut many of
>our
> institutions down.
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elizabeth Stith <[log in to unmask]>
> Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tuesday, July 28, 1998 12:25 PM
> Subject: Re: The Value of an M.A. - $7.25/hr?
>
>
> >I really disagree with the idea that museums do not value the
>degree - or
> whatever level of education - their employees have. I do know
>that funding
> always hase been and always will be problematic for all but a
>rarified few
> of us. It seems to me that in most museums staff are paid to
>the best
> ability of the organization. I have never experienced anything
>else. If
> people new to the field feel that starting salaries are too low
>then I
> invite them to rethink their choosen careers. I made a decision
>many years
> ago that related to the quality of my life and one part of that
>decision was
> an understanding that I was never going to make a fortune doing
>what I want
> to do. It's called life.
>
>
Kelly McKinley
Education Department
Art Gallery of Ontario
317 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 1G4
Canada
PH: (416) 979-6660 ext.268
FAX: (416) 979-6674
E-MAIL: [log in to unmask]
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