Facing a huge revenue shortfall, and with too few people passing through its doors, the Art Gallery of Ontario is considering laying off 61 permanent and 47 contract employees next month.

The gallery, which only recently unveiled its new redesign, will hold talks on the proposal with the workers' union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 535.

“We've put forward to them a proposition that begins a dialogue. I don't know where it's going to end up,” CEO Matthew Teitelbaum said Thursday. “We will, one way or another, have to do what every institution has to do in times of challenge, which is do more with less. But I'm not yet sure what that looks like.”

He said the AGO couldn't have imagined it would launch its redesigned building into such stormy economic waters, and that that every assumption needs rethinking.

Less than three weeks before the end of its fiscal year, AGO revenues are 20 per cent below projections, according to Susan Bloch-Nevitt, the gallery's executive director of public affairs. Some 343,000 people have visited the redesigned Frank Gehry building since it opened in mid-November, roughly 16 per cent shy of the 400,000 visitors gallery officials had expected to see by March 31.

Mr. Teitelbaum said the biggest hits have been in attendance and corporate bookings of event spaces, but Ms. Bloch-Nevitt pointed out that the drop in visitors has also meant membership sales have stumbled, and fewer dollars are flowing to the restaurant and gift shop. Mr. Teitelbaum also said the gallery miscalculated its return per transaction at the shop, exacerbating the shortfall.

“If we operated at this level in the coming year, if we didn't make adjustments, we could fall short by as much as $10-million,” Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said.

At a meeting last week, gallery officers gave executives from the union, which represents 405 full- and part-time AGO employees, the names of 108 people who might have to be let go, in large part, it said, due to the flagging economy. Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said the 47 working on contracts that expire at the end of March were hired for the Transformation AGO project and would not have been kept on even in better times, a claim the union disputes.

Mr. Teitelbaum said gallery officials will take several weeks to consult the union and try to bring the number of casualties down. A decision on layoffs must be made before the 2009-2010 budget is tabled for board approval in mid-April.

In a statement released Monday, the union suggested the gallery had “stonewalled” requests for details about why the layoffs are necessary. Steward Paula Whitford said the union wants to know when the layoffs would take effect, why the listed positions are considered expendable and what budget targets the AGO hopes to meet for next year.

“If we had access to some of those metrics, then maybe we'd be able to provide staffing alternatives that would help with their budget,” Ms. Whitford said. “But we're continually met with ‘no' or ‘we don't know the answer.'”

Mr. Teitelbaum disagreed, saying the gallery had been “pretty forthcoming” and that there is no impediment to both sides having ideas. Measures that could be on the table to save jobs include job sharing and unpaid days off, but Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said some layoffs likely are inevitable.

Another union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the AGO's claim that all 47 contract employees were hired for the $300-million Transformation AGO project, saying many of the contracts are in departments that appear to have no connection to the project. Mr. Teitelbaum countered that the based on 18 months of consultations conducted with other museums in Canada, the United States and Europe, the gallery determined that contract workers were also needed in areas that would manage the surge in attendance after the reopening.

“I regret that that is their feeling,” he said.

Both sides agreed the recession has hurt the AGO, and that it will have to be streamlined, and Mr. Teitelbaum said he his staff are heartened by the AGO's success at staying on budget during the renovations.

“This is called discipline, and you don't wait to be in crisis mode to do these things,” Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said. “We're in a process. I don't think we're in a crisis, we're trying to avert a crisis.”

Facing a huge revenue shortfall, and with too few people passing through its doors, the Art Gallery of Ontario is considering laying off 61 permanent and 47 contract employees next month.

The gallery, which only recently unveiled its new redesign, will hold talks on the proposal with the workers' union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 535.

“We've put forward to them a proposition that begins a dialogue. I don't know where it's going to end up,” CEO Matthew Teitelbaum said Thursday. “We will, one way or another, have to do what every institution has to do in times of challenge, which is do more with less. But I'm not yet sure what that looks like.”

He said the AGO couldn't have imagined it would launch its redesigned building into such stormy economic waters, and that that every assumption needs rethinking.

Less than three weeks before the end of its fiscal year, AGO revenues are 20 per cent below projections, according to Susan Bloch-Nevitt, the gallery's executive director of public affairs. Some 343,000 people have visited the redesigned Frank Gehry building since it opened in mid-November, roughly 16 per cent shy of the 400,000 visitors gallery officials had expected to see by March 31.

Mr. Teitelbaum said the biggest hits have been in attendance and corporate bookings of event spaces, but Ms. Bloch-Nevitt pointed out that the drop in visitors has also meant membership sales have stumbled, and fewer dollars are flowing to the restaurant and gift shop. Mr. Teitelbaum also said the gallery miscalculated its return per transaction at the shop, exacerbating the shortfall.

“If we operated at this level in the coming year, if we didn't make adjustments, we could fall short by as much as $10-million,” Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said.

At a meeting last week, gallery officers gave executives from the union, which represents 405 full- and part-time AGO employees, the names of 108 people who might have to be let go, in large part, it said, due to the flagging economy. Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said the 47 working on contracts that expire at the end of March were hired for the Transformation AGO project and would not have been kept on even in better times, a claim the union disputes.

Mr. Teitelbaum said gallery officials will take several weeks to consult the union and try to bring the number of casualties down. A decision on layoffs must be made before the 2009-2010 budget is tabled for board approval in mid-April.

In a statement released Monday, the union suggested the gallery had “stonewalled” requests for details about why the layoffs are necessary. Steward Paula Whitford said the union wants to know when the layoffs would take effect, why the listed positions are considered expendable and what budget targets the AGO hopes to meet for next year.

“If we had access to some of those metrics, then maybe we'd be able to provide staffing alternatives that would help with their budget,” Ms. Whitford said. “But we're continually met with ‘no' or ‘we don't know the answer.'”

Mr. Teitelbaum disagreed, saying the gallery had been “pretty forthcoming” and that there is no impediment to both sides having ideas. Measures that could be on the table to save jobs include job sharing and unpaid days off, but Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said some layoffs likely are inevitable.

Another union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the AGO's claim that all 47 contract employees were hired for the $300-million Transformation AGO project, saying many of the contracts are in departments that appear to have no connection to the project. Mr. Teitelbaum countered that the based on 18 months of consultations conducted with other museums in Canada, the United States and Europe, the gallery determined that contract workers were also needed in areas that would manage the surge in attendance after the reopening.

“I regret that that is their feeling,” he said.

Both sides agreed the recession has hurt the AGO, and that it will have to be streamlined, and Mr. Teitelbaum said he his staff are heartened by the AGO's success at staying on budget during the renovations.

“This is called discipline, and you don't wait to be in crisis mode to do these things,” Ms. Bloch-Nevitt said. “We're in a process. I don't think we're in a crisis, we're trying to avert a crisis.”