Fired union drive leaders claim ‘retaliation’ by LIC art handling firm
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Six fired union organizers say their company, Uovo, used the COVID-19 pandemic to justify their termination. Photo courtesy of the Teamsters
By David Brand
Six axed art handlers who attempted to unionize a major Long Island City art storage and shipping firm have signed onto a National Labor Relations Board complaint claiming the company used the COVID-19 economic shutdown to justify their termination.
Teamsters Local 814, which represents art handlers, filed the charges with the NLRB against Uovo Fine Art on behalf of the six workers Monday.
Only the organized labor leaders and another colleague were permanently laid off, the Teamsters claim in the complaint, while the rest of the Uovo staff were furloughed or otherwise retained.
“This is clear retaliation,” said Peter Mackay, one of the fired art handlers. “Just because you wait six months and do it under the cover of a global pandemic, doesn’t make it any less obvious. It just makes it more heinous.”
In October 2019, the six fired employees supported the unsuccessful unionization bid at Uovo, which stores artwork, crates and ships art internationally and installs pieces at galleries, museums and private homes.
MacKay and another fired colleague, Henry “David” Martinez, continued to wear their union pins and jackets even after losing the unionization vote, said Teamsters Local 814 organizer Julian Tysh, a former art handler.
Tysh said their outspoken activism precipitated their firing in violation of federal labor law.
“It’s not hard to figure out,” he said. “This is the type of ham-fisted anti-union stuff that big corporations do, from Amazon to Uovo.”
The art industry exploits workers who are attracted to the allure of “being close enough to touch” work by iconic artists or who think they can use the job to launch their own creative careers, he added.
Later on in life, he said, “a lot of folks realize they spent 20 to 30 years making someone else rich.”
The economic shutdown related to the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed art storage and handling in and around New York City, prompting industry-wide furloughs.
UOVO Marketing Director Anne Maso denied that the company fired the art handlers because of their union activity.
“Perceived support of labor unions was not a factor in our decision and management was also affected,” Maso said. “It is common for unions to file all manner of petitions after losing a representation election and we will disprove the allegations in cooperation with the National Labor Relations Board.”
