The Artwork Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto will reopen to the general public on 30 April, greater than a month after employees there went on strike, prompting the museum to shut. Members of Native 535 of the Ontario Public Service Staff Union (OPSEU/SEFPO) started hanging on 26 March after a breakdown in long-running contract negotiations with museum directors over points together with protections for precarious part-time employees and wage will increase.
After a reported 16-hour bargaining session resulted in a tentative settlement within the early hours of 25 April, that settlement was put to a wider vote, with 85% of voting members approving the brand new contract. OPSEU/SEFPO Native 535 represents greater than 400 employees on the museum throughout many departments, together with assistant curators, archivists, meals and hospitality employees, researchers, technicians, carpenters, electricians, instructors, designers and customer companies employees.
As a part of the brand new contract, full-time and part-time employees will obtain an 11.4% wage improve retroactive to December 2021. The settlement additionally consists of improved meal allowances, bereavement depart for full-time workers and extra.
“The dedication of employees standing up collectively after years of deteriorating working situations on the gallery was nothing in need of inspiring,” Paul Ayers, the president of OPSEU/SEFPO Native 535, mentioned in a press release. “The relationships employees forge with one another by strikes are a mosaic of victories. We’re going through tomorrow collectively, as a stronger union who is aware of the full-time and part-time fights are indivisible. And we’re not achieved right here—that is solely the start.”
