AGO laying off 37 staff despite cash injection
Art Gallery of Ontario had promised an expansion of staff when it announced new funding from Ottawa

SARAH BOESVELD AND JAMES BRADSHAW

From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Mar. 19, 2010 3:26AM EDT

Weeks after announcing a multimillion-dollar cash injection from Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario says it will lay off 37 employees during the construction of its new state-of-the-art learning centre.

Despite promising an expansion of staff when the money came in, the AGO told part-time and occasional part-time workers this week that their jobs will be axed starting April 1, when construction begins. Some will work until Aug. 3.

"It's short-term pain for long-term gain," gallery spokeswoman Antonietta Mirabelli said last night. "We hope, when the learning centre launches in the fall of 2011, that we'll be able to bring back those employees to help facilitate the new programs the centre will offer."

A memo to staff posted on the AGO's internal website said the cancellation of programs in the Gallery School during construction will affect family program education officers, youth and adult studio instructors and Gallery School studio technicians.

About a quarter of the jobs haven't been filled in their full capacity for the past six months, Ms. Mirabelli said.

On Feb. 22, the AGO announced a $7.5-million boost from the federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to build the Weston Family Learning Centre, an ambitious project meant to boost art education for adults and kids with special space for classes, workshops and exhibitions. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation donated $12-million in 2008.

But the Gallery School will have to cancel spring classes and end winter ones early to make way for construction of the 35,000-square-foot addition. School studio visits scheduled for May and June will take place in the gallery. Off the Wall, a hands-on learning centre for families, will close in July and reopen in the new facility. AGO staff has found other homes for some programs during the construction, Ms. Mirabelli said.

The employees' union is in contract negotiations, which started late last year and resumed in January after a break.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union representative Paula Whitmore said the union learned about the cuts last Thursday and asked management to "cease and desist" the layoffs until another collective agreement was ratified.

"Key issues of this negotiation hinge around job security and layoffs," she said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail, adding that the union got little advance notice of the layoffs.

The government stipulated that the project begin as soon as possible and finish quickly, she said.

(Editor's note: This story has been updated from the version that appeared in print)