anton vidokle on Wed, 16 May 2012 02:53:41 +0200 (CEST) |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
<nettime> petition |
Sotheby's: offer your art handlers a fair contract Sign the petition at = http://www.change.org/petitions/sotheby-s-offer-your-art-handlers-a-fair-c= ontract May 1, 2011 For the past eight months, Sotheby's has locked its 43 unionized art = handlers out of work. Rather than negotiating a fair contract with its = employees, the company has issued a set of demands: the gutting of the = art handlers' union, the elimination of health insurance and other = benefits, and the replacement of full-time skilled workers with = temporary unskilled laborers. Sotheby's has decided that the handling of priceless artworks is an easy = job; that low-paid temporary workers with little training or incentive = can manage the constant stream of artifacts into and out of the world's = largest auction house. The 43 locked-out workers who have made art = handling their career know this is not true. There have been no negotiations. In meeting after meeting, Sotheby's has = stalled, preferring instead to extend the lockout in the hopes that = their workers might eventually capitulate to demands designed to exploit = them. To make certain, the company has hired Jackson Lewis, a = notoriously anti-employee law firm that the AFL-CIO has called the = "number one union buster in America." The message from Sotheby's is clear: art handlers do not deserve the = same benefits as the rest of their staff. If art handlers expect the = privileges of their betters, like health insurance or collective = bargaining rights, it is acceptable to make them suffer. Sotheby's has no financial incentive. Last year, the company saw its = highest profits ever, increasing revenue by 7% year-on-year. They = remain the largest and most successful business in the art world, and = they know it: in 2010, CEO William Ruprecht more than doubled his own = salary, to 6 million USD. The entire union contract totals 3.2 million USD. It is the sheer obviousness of this abuse of power that makes action = necessary.=20 We are asking artists, collectors, and institutions to sign this = petition and stand in solidarity with the Sotheby's art handlers until = they receive a fair contract. This is not about hurting the company = financially; unlike Sotheby's, we have no taste for the suffering of = others. This is about displaying a commitment to the moral principle of = fair pay for fair labor, and to the possibility of ethical practices in = the arts. This is about declaring, as an industry, that people should be = treated well. This is about standing up and saying, in one voice: "This = is wrong."=20 We must be the conscience that Sotheby's lacks.=20 If you?re an artist you can tell Sotheby's you don?t support their sale = of your work.=20 If you're a collector, you can buy and sell from other auction houses = whenever possible. If represent an institution you can refuse sponsorships from Sotheby's. If you're in the media, you can use your platform to assure that all = voices get heard. Whoever you are, you can sign this petition, and show Sotheby's where = you stand. Then forward it to everyone you know. You can make the art = world you want to participate in; a place where people matter, and no = one can be casually cast aside. = http://www.change.org/petitions/sotheby-s-offer-your-art-handlers-a-fair-contract Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director, Art Fag City Will Brand, Editor-in-Chief, Art Fag City Anton Vidokle, Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, e-flux Hrag Vartanian, Veken Gueyikian, Hyperallergic Haim Steinbach, artist Deborah Kass, artist Marilyn Minter, artist AA Bronson, artist Shepard Fairey, artist William Powhida, artist W.A.G.E., artist collective # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org