Alistair Hardaker | Image: View of Weston Collections Hall at V&A East Storehouse. (Kemka Ajoku for V&A)
PCS demands Real Living Wage accreditation, 1.5x Bank Holiday pay and cross-site 30-degree gallery closure policy.
Workers at the Victoria and Albert Museum who are members of the PCS Union have voted to strike in a dispute over pay, health and safety, working conditions and the way management engages with staff.
A vote among members saw 95% back strike action, while 97.86% voted in favour of action short of a strike.
The ballot, which opened on 23 July, covered PCS members working across the V&A’s London sites, including South Kensington, V&A East Storehouse, V&A East Museum and Young V&A.
PCS members are demanding that V&A management negotiate a better pay offer for staff on ‘Band 6’ and above, becoming a Real Living Wage accredited employer, increasing pay to 1.5 times on Bank Holidays, an agreed cross-site policy to close public spaces when temperatures reach 30 degrees, protecting staff and visitors, and a discussion on appropriate heat mitigation measures for back-of-house staff.
It also asks for workers at V&A East Storehouse to be allowed to drink and carry water at work, and a schedule of meetings with PCS representatives to discuss issues affecting members.
The union says it has repeatedly sought “meaningful engagement” with V&A management but says members’ concerns have continued to be dismissed.
Last month, in response to the proposed strike, the V&A said it had been in ongoing negotiations with the trade union side since February. It said its offer sees a 3.6% increase in the overall pay bill, an above inflation pay award as a minimum, and a 6.9% increase to its lowest paid staff.
“As always, we have maintained our long-standing commitment to paying at least the London Living Wage,” the statement read.
PCS says that issues including access to water, working safely during extreme temperatures and adequate measures to protect staff and visitors must be treated as fundamental workplace responsibilities, “rather than afterthoughts”.
The ballot was opened during the UK’s July heatwave. The union urged for a cross-site policy of closing museum doors at 30 degrees for the safety of members and visitors. It claimed that at the new V&A East Storehouse in Hackney, workers are not allowed to drink or carry water, no matter how hot they are.
It quotes one V&A member as having said “lack of convenient access to water has caused me to become dehydrated at work many times and in one instance caused me to faint on my way home from work”.
In response, the V&A said in a statement that the safety and wellbeing of its staff is “of utmost importance” and all its staff have access to water and toilet facilities and regular breaks while at work.
The statement went on: “Extensive measures were implemented to support our staff during the heatwave, ranging from additional rest breaks, increasing staff rotations across gallery spaces, closing several galleries at V&A South Kensington and closing Young V&A altogether on eleven days during the peak of the heatwave.”
It said that to ensure the safety and security of national collections, during its Order an Object appointments at V&A East Storehouse, food and drink are not permitted and visitors are accompanied by V&A staff during their appointment.
It added that the heat threshold for closure across sites differs because staff rotations are not consistent between its venues.
PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said the vote to strike “sends a very clear message to V&A management: our members will not accept being undervalued, ignored or put at risk at work.”
“They are demanding fair pay, safe working conditions and a proper voice in the workplace, and they have shown they are prepared to take action to get them.
“Management needs to stop shutting the door on its own staff and start negotiating seriously. The ball is firmly in the V&A’s court.”
The union said it will announce further details of any industrial action in due course.
The vote follows a separate Prospect union dispute secured in July, when members backed strike action by 83% on an 82% turnout over pay and conditions across the same V&A sites.
Prospect has since resolved a related dispute over break times for Storehouse collections access officers. The museum agreed to grant two paid breaks a day after members voted to strike over the issue earlier this month. Prospect says its members remain “set to strike over wider issues on pay, terms and conditions.”
