Anyone hoping to spend a day browsing works at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) will have to put their plans to visit the downtown Toronto attraction on hold for at least today, as the institution has had to close its doors amid strike action.

Employees in the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) voted to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday after turning down the latest offer from the gallery, which comes after 10 months of bargaining talks.

As a result, the AGO has informed patrons this morning that it will be shuttered to the public until further notice.

"The AGO is currently closed due to a labour disruption. We remain hopeful that we will reach a negotiated agreement with OPSEU soon," reads a 7 a.m. post from the gallery's X account that directs people to its website for updates.

The AGO is currently closed due to a labour disruption. We remain hopeful that we will reach a negotiated agreement with OPSEU soon. When operations resume, updates will be published at https://t.co/RiYQl42p2R. Please email contactus@ago.ca for further questions.

— Art Gallery of Ontario (@agotoronto) March 26, 2024

Members of the union are demanding higher pay and "protections against contracting out for precarious part-time workers," among other things, writing in a news release that the AGO's "elite executives made hundreds of thousands" over the pandemic while lower-level staff have faced years of wage freezes.

The release claims that centre's CEO earned a $406,000 salary in 2020-2021, as well as more than $390,000 in consulting fees from the AGO Foundation. 

"Many of these workers are artists in their own right that contribute to the cultural fabric of the city. Devaluing artists is not how we show the public that the arts matter... the AGO is sending the message that as a prominent cultural institution, it prioritizes the bottom line over peoples' livelihood."

Those on strike include food and customer service staff, carpenters, archivists and researchers, technicians, assistant curators and more, amounting to more than 400 workers.