Alistair Hardaker | British Libray (CC BY-SA 2.0 fsse8info)
Package includes additional £2,000 uplift for mid-level role minimums, with all elements backdated to August 2025.
Union members at the British Library have voted to accept a new pay offer, ending a six-month dispute.
The offer includes a 4% pay rise for the lowest pay bands, London Living Wage adjustments, and an allowance review.
Last December, a strike saw over 300 PCS union members who work at the British Library walk out for five days. Union members had previously taken two weeks of strike action in October and November 2025.
The Library’s former CEO Rebecca Lawrence stepped down from the role after ten months, in the middle of the industrial action.
The PCS Union said the pay offer “marks an important step forward for some of the British Library’s lowest-paid staff”.
The full negotiated package includes a consolidated increase of 4% for its lowest-paid workers, London Living Wage (LLW) adjustments for staff earning below the LLW threshold, an additional £2,000 uplift for mid-level role minimums, and an allowances review “focused on addressing the non-payment of alternative working patterns for security staff.”
All elements of the offer will be backdated to August 2025.
Fran Heathcote, PCS General Secretary said: “It’s not everything our members deserve, but it’s a clear step forward, and we will continue fighting for fair pay and dignity at work for every single one of them.”
