V&A Workers Ballot for Strike Over Pay, Heatwave Conditions

More than 300 workers across London’s Victoria and Albert Museum are voting on whether to strike over salary, working conditions, and what unions describe as unsafe heatwave policies.

According to the Guardian, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union launched the ballot on July 23, covering employees at the V&A’s flagship South Kensington museum, Young V&A in Bethnal Green, and the V&A East Museum and Storehouse in Stratford. The union said soaring temperatures, limited access to drinking water during shifts, and pay disputes have pushed staff to consider the strike. 

The union’s demands include a minimum 4 percent pay increase, a policy requiring public areas to close when indoor temperatures are greater than 86 degrees, additional protection for behind-the-scenes staff working in the heat, and permission for employees at V&A East Storehouse to carry water while working around objects on display. (As of now, the staff must be relieved by another worker before leaving to get a drink, according to the union.)

PCS is also urging the museum to become an accredited London Living Wage employer. While the V&A says all directly employed staff already earn at least the London Living Wage, it acknowledged some outsourced contractors do not, and said accreditation will be reviewed later this year. 

The strike ballot comes during one of Britain’s hottest summers on record and is thought to be among the first centered specifically on workplace conditions during a heatwave. 

“The V&A has been in negotiations with the trade union side since February and those negotiations are ongoing,” a museum spokesperson told the Guardia, adding that its latest proposal includes a 3.6% increase to the overall pay bill, above-inflation pay awards, and a 6.9% raise for its lowest-paid employees. The museum also said it introduced additional rest breaks, increased staff rotations, closed several galleries at South Kensington, and shut Young V&A for 11 days during the peak of the heatwave. 

The Prospect union is separately balloting its own V&A members over pay and working conditions, with that vote set to close on July 29.