Application initially rejected due to lack of qualifications
Kevin McAleese had worked at The Rooms museum in St. John’s since 1994 before his position became redundant in 2013.
McAleese invoked a bumping request so he could secure another position as curator. He had 33,754 seniority hours, compared to 6,762 seniority hours earned by curator Maureen Power.
He argued that his classifications for the curator position was slightly different than what was stated in the position description form, but his experience and education were in a related field and qualified him for the placement.
McAleese had degrees in archaeology and anthropology and did post-graduate studies in folklore. In 1994, he taught course in anthropology at Memorial University in St. John’s. He also took more archaeology courses and participated in an excavation in Labrador for his master’s thesis.
McAleese was lead curator for the L’Anse Aux Meadows Vikings exhibit.
After Anne Chafe, director of the provincial museums division since 2007, denied McAleese bumping rights, the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE) union grieved it.
The union said McAleese’s resume included a degree in archeology, which would have qualified under the position description requirement that the curator “specializ(es) in Newfoundland and Labrador history, folklore or related fields.” As well, it said McAleese’s 20 years’ of experience qualified him as fulfilling more than two years’ experience in curation, rather than a degree in museum studies, which he didn't have.
Letters of support from colleagues in the museum industry were submitted in his testimony.
Chafe testified against McAleese’s qualifications, arguing history was different from archeology. She said history academics were expected to be members of different associations from those of archeology, each with different codes of ethics. As well, methods of study and the focus were different between the disciplines.
The archeology department at the museum focused mainly on Aboriginal culture, whereas the history department’s main goal was the study of European culture.
And according to the collective agreement, one bargaining unit could not complete the work of another, rendering the archeology and history departments incompatible, said Chafe.
McAleese did not meet the minimum requirements, she said.
Chafe also said he didn’t have experience cataloguing or appraising artifacts, or project management experience, which was stated in the position form.
In upholding the grievance, arbitrator James Oakley found he did have the proper equivalency of a museum studies degree and this should have been considered.
“McAleese has demonstrated experience equivalent to at least two years’ working experience in the curation of a history collection,” said Oakley. “It was unreasonable not to consider McAleese’s experience for about 20 years as a museum curator, and his considerable experience as a curator of exhibits that included artifacts from the history collection, as meeting the requirement of equivalency to the formal education requirement of a degree in museum studies.”
The position requirement of cataloguing, appraising artifacts or any project management experience was unreasonably rejected by Chafe, according to Oakley.
“With respect to project management skills, McAleese demonstrated project management as chair of the curatorial team for the Viking Millennium exhibit and as lead curator on other exhibits; with respect to artifact cataloguing techniques, McAleese was responsible for cataloguing done by other staff and was familiar with the museum software program,” said Oakley.
McAleese was awarded the position effective the date his former position was made redundant, with compensation to be determined.
Reference: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Marine Services) and Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees. James Oakley — arbitrator. Lisa Curran for the employer. Chris Henley for the employee. Aug. 9, 2016.
