Despite the
rain, today’s rally
in New York City was a success.
More than 80
union members showed up at Randall’s Island to protest the Frieze New York Art
Show’s discrimination against union workers.
Members of
the following unions showed up to take a stand for working families: Teamsters
Locals 817, 807, 210, 917, 553, 814 and 202; District Council of
Carpenters; Painters DC 9; Operating Engineers Local 30; and IATSE Locals 1 and
829. Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, chair of the NYC Parks Committee
(pictured) has been one of the most prominent voices on this issue.
Unions weren’t
the only ones to call out the sponsors of the big-money event. At least one
artist whose work is being exhibited at the art show got involved. Art in
America magazine has the story:
In the midst of setting up her booth
at the Frieze Art Fair, Los Angeles dealer Susanne Vielmetter was presented
with a last-minute problem. One of the artists she's showing, Andrea Bowers,
disagreed with the fair's decision to hire non-union workers (an issue that
plagued the fair last year as well). Two days before Frieze's preview, which is
this Thursday, May 9, Bowers had decided to display a pamphlet and a written
statement calling out Frieze's anti-union labor practices.
"By
refusing to pay living wages to the workers who built the Frieze fairgrounds,
Frieze Art Fair and sponsor Deutsche Bank are blemishes on the New York
community. Frieze and Deutsche are driving down standards for working people in
the art and exhibition industry while taking advantage of the New York City
taxpayers who subsidize our parks. The Teamsters will always fight for good
jobs in New York, now and for the long term. We are so honored that artists
like Andrea Bowers are standing up for workers and speaking truth to the
powerful corporations in the art and banking worlds."
