V&A staff set to strike on 25 and 26 September
Prospect members at the V&A in South Kensington are to take strike action on the 25 and 26 of September in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The strike action is being coordinated with PCS members who are also striking on those days in a parallel dispute.
Director of the V&A Tristram Hunt has continued to refuse to take part in any arbitration talks, and V&A has failed to come back with any revised offer.
Prospect is demanding the V&A:
- Deliver a minimum 4% pay increase for staff earning above the Living Wage
- Pay time-and-a-half for Bank Holiday working
- Become an accredited London Living Wage employer within 12 months
- Improve food provision at V&A East sites
- The timing and specifics of the industrial action at all London V&A sites will be decided in due course.
The strike action will only cover South Kensington but we remain in dispute at all satellite V&A sites in London: V&A East, V&A Storehouse and Young V&A.
In a separate dispute with V&A, Prospect recently won paid breaks for collections workers at V&A Storehouse who had previously been unable to access toilet and drinking water facilities on shift.
Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:
“Our members have been left with no choice but to take strike action by a senior management which continues to engage seriously on out very reasonable demands.
“Directors at V&A continue to demonstrate their lack of respect for the very people who make the museum what it is – its dedicated, highly qualified staff.
“The V&A can still avoid this strike, but it needs actual effort to meet our terms and for senior management to demonstrate that they are serious about wanting to find a solution.”
