Our members gathered outside the Canada Museum of Science and Technology on Thursday and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum on Friday to fight back against cuts to public services. Just two weeks before Christmas, the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation decided to lay off 17 employees.
UNE National President Doug Marshall had a message for the corporation: “We need to keep the craziness in the crazy kitchen and out of management and out of the federal government!” Marshall was of course referring to the Canada Science and Technology Museum’s most popular exhibit; a kitchen in which visitors experience spatial distortion.
There are signs that the craziness may have escaped the kitchen. The corporation says budget pressures were the reason for the layoffs. Nonetheless, 15 senior management positions were kept (one senior manager for every 13 employees) and their annual bonuses were paid out.
“When you destroy quality public services, you’re destroying Canada,” said Larry Rousseau, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region. “That is what this institution has always represented for me, for my family and for people throughout Ottawa and Canada.”
The UNE Separate Employers regional team also came to show their support and reach out to museum patrons. Museum workers distributed factsheets explaining how these cuts will negatively impact future exhibits and the preservation of artifacts, among other services.
“We just want to do our job and take care of our great collection, not only for the people here today, but for future generations,” said a museum employee. “We want people to bring their kids and have their kids come back with their children – and experience the same great collection we’ve always had.”
What you can do: Contact Denise Amyot, President and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, at damyot@technomuses.ca or at 613-993-0775 or on Twitter at @damyot. Urge her to respect both the Canada Museums Act and our collective agreement.