James Murdoch, the controversial chief executive of News Corp International, has been drawn into the ongoing contract negotiations between Sotheby’s auction house and its art handlers’ labour union, Teamsters Local 814.
Murdoch was appointed to Sotheby’s board of directors in May last year. Commenting at the time, Sotheby’s chairman Michael Sovern praised Murdoch for his “impressive experiences”, “media perspectives” and “sophisticated understanding of digital media and the internet”.
The emphasis on technology now seems unfortunate: Murdoch is the heir apparent to the multinational media conglomerate, News Corp, and is inveigled in the phone hacking scandal that enveloped the company over the summer.
The disgruntled art handling union has seized upon the connection. George Miranda, the president of Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents more than 110,000 union members in New York, alleged that Murdoch’s position on Sotheby’s board showed: “Risk management is clearly not a priority for Sotheby’s executives or board of directors.” The statement also accused the house of “greed and dysfunction”.
Sotheby’s declined to comment, other than to say: “James Murdoch is a valued member of Sotheby’s board.”
The union timed its statement to coincide with Sotheby’s announcement of its second-quarter results on 3 August. Nonetheless, the auction house did not refer to the fallout in a conference call to shareholders.
Instead, the auction house discussed its $127.2m quarterly profit—the best in its history. The company’s president and chief executive, Bill Ruprecht, said that: “The market volatility we’ve seen around the world in other arenas has encouraged participation in our market place.”
Nonetheless, Sotheby’s share price tumbled last month as the international markets went into turmoil. The company’s stock has lost 37% of its value since 7 July, falling from $47.8 to under $30, as we went to press.
