he V&A Storehouse at Stratford, east London. Photo diamond geezer via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Workers have not been lying down during the summer heat. Across the country they have been taking action against employers where working conditions are not good enough.
Trade union Prospect, representing workers at major national and regional museums and galleries, has won a dispute with the V&A Museum over toilet and hydration breaks. The union reported that members working as Collections Access Officers at the new V&A Storehouse museum in Stratford East London had unanimously voted to strike, on a turnout of 88 per cent, over what they called “Amazon-style” conditions – referring the giant employer, not necessarily the rain forest!
The Storehouse introduced an innovation whereby members of the public can make an appointment to view up to five objects from the collection, facilitated by the access officers. This is manual labour, involving handling heavy objects such as wall tapestries and carpets. These workers were not paid during toilet and hydration breaks or lunch hours.
In a separate “heatwave” ballot over access to drinking water, pay and conditions, members of Prospect and sister union PCS have been voting on strike action at the four V&A sites in London. PCS is calling for management to close public areas when temperatures exceed 30 ºC and for other steps.
V&A workers are also balloting for potential action over pay. They want a rise of at least 4 per cent and for its outsourced contractors to receive the living wage in line with other staff. The offer on the table is for 3.6 per cent increase and 6.9 per cent for the lowest paid.
• Elsewhere in London, at the Royal Museums Greenwich, Prospect members, having recently agreed a two-year pay settlement, voted overwhelmingly on a turnout of 90 per cent to strike in August for further negotiations on improving a wide range of conditions.