The Sotheby’s Economy

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/16/the-sothebys-economy/

While most of America suffers through recession and unemployment, luxury retailers and service providers are doing quite well. With corporate profits remaining high, the moneyed elites continue to enjoy 5-star hotels, private jets, fancy jewelry, and splendid works of art. Their friends commanding those industries couldn’t be happier.

Such is the case with Sotheby’s, the famous art auction house in Manhattan, New York, which reported $680 million in gross profits last year, its largest take in its history. And the company’s assault on the very workers who make it what it is represents one of the darkest aspects of America’s jobless economic recovery.

Sotheby’s abruptly cut off contract negotiations with Teamsters Local 814, which represents its 43 art handlers, demanding that they accept a 10 percent wage cut, caps on overtime and an end to their retirement benefits. The workers have been locked out without pay since August 1. To add insult to injury, the company two days announced that its net income for the last quarter was up 48 percent from the previous year–the “best quarter in Sotheby’s history,” bragged company president Bill Ruprecht.

“They want to bring in low wage non-union laborers to contribute: no benefits, low wages, no rights on the job, that whole package, and not necessarily people who have art handling experience,” said union president Jason Ide, a former art handler. “We think it’s a risk to put masterpieces in the hands of these replacement laborers.”

More at the link --