Update re: PSAC 901 strike and Union Gallery hours

Posted: March 17, 2025

Starting tomorrow, Union Gallery (UG) will reopen with limited public hours from Tuesday to Friday, 11am to 4:30pm, reflecting the absence of our striking colleagues in the Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 901 (PSAC 901).

All are welcome to visit the gallery and learn about this ongoing historic strike at Queen’s—we will have resources available on the Wandering Art Station, and our core staff will be on site and happy to speak with you. PSAC 901 members are welcome to stop by for tea and snacks between shifts on the picket line.

We remain strong in our support of graduate student workers. While our doors are reopening to fulfill UG’s mandate as an independent public art gallery serving the wider community of Katarokwi/Kingston, we refuse to pretend that this is business as usual. Our core staff will not perform tasks normally carried out by our unionized student staff, and we are committed to using UG’s resources to educate the public about labour rights for the remainder of the strike. 

While we are still hopeful that a fair agreement between Queen’s University and PSAC 901 will be reached soon, this cannot happen without the cooperation of Queen's administration. To that end, we encourage students, faculty, staff, and community members to show solidarity with graduate student workers by urging Queen’s to return to the bargaining table.

Signed,

Haley Sarfeld, Program Director
Morgan Wedderspoon, Gallery Director

Further Reading
Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 901, “PSAC 901 Unit 1 Notice of Strike.” March 10, 2025. https://psac901.org/psac-901-unit-1-notice-of-strike/ 
Union Gallery, “Regular hours suspended in solidarity with PSAC 901.” March 10, 2025. https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/statement-march-2025