More than 300 staff members at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum are being balloted for strike action amid ongoing pay negotiations and concerns about working conditions.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) reported this week that its 332 members across four of the exempt charity’s sites, including the flagship museum in South Kensington, London, were being balloted until 20 August.
The PCS has also started a petition to culture secretary Lisa Nandy and V&A directors asking for “fair pay and safe working conditions” at the charity.
The union accused the charity’s management of failing to provide a “meaningful pay offer for workers”.
It called on the charity to become an accredited London living wage employer and offer time-and-a-half pay to staff on bank holidays.
The union also said its members were “furious over health and safety issues in many of the museum’s London sites”, with a particular concern about working conditions during heatwaves.
It has called for “a cross-site policy of closing museum doors at 30 degrees for the safety of members and visitors alike, as well as heat mitigation measures for back of house staff”.
“Staff have been forced to work while suffering from dehydration, with members even reporting that they’ve fainted on the way home from work, when this was raised with management they received no response,” the petition reads.
“Gallery assistants are also expected to work shifts in the garden at the South Kensington site in extreme hot weather putting their health, and the safety of visitors at risk.”
The PCS said at the V&A East Storehouse in Hackney, London, “workers aren’t allowed to drink or carry water, no matter how hot they are”.
V&A: ‘Negotiations are ongoing’
A spokesperson for the V&A told Civil Society that negotiations with the PCS have been ongoing since February.
“Our offer sees a 3.6% increase in the overall pay bill, an above-inflation pay award as a minimum, and 6.9% increase for our lowest-paid colleagues,” they said.
While the V&A is not listed as an accredited living wage employer, the spokesperson said the charity had “maintained our long-standing commitment to paying at least the London living wage”.
They said the charity ensured its employees had access to water, toilet facilities and regular breaks at work and had implemented “extensive measures” to support them during the heatwave.
These included additional rest breaks, increased staff rotations across gallery spaces and the closure of galleries during the peak of the heatwave.
However, the spokesperson said food and drink were not permitted during “order an object” appointments at the V&A East Storehouse “to ensure the safety and security of national collections”.
Civil Society has contacted the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for comment.
