by New Worker correspondent
In ‘Albertopolis’, the academic nickname for the London home of colleges and museums that go back to the Victorian era, a small street union has at last won a recognition battle with the Science Museum.
On the advice of Albert, the Prince Consort, this slice of Kensington was purchased out of the profits from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to become a centre for the arts and science in the heart of the capital. This seat of learning soon became a magnet for students, scholars and visitors who still throng the hallowed halls of London’s great museums. But behind the scenes there’s been a protracted struggle between the poorly-paid workers who guard the galleries and a Management that, until now, had turned a blind eye to their just demands for more pay.
Now the United Voices of the World (UVW) has, after a long battle, secured recognition at the Science Museum after a ruling by the Central Arbitration Committee, the court which decides such matters.
Earlier this year this independent union, that organises beyond the bureaucratic reach of the TUC, and was involved in a long campaign involving not just the Science Museum, but the neighbouring Natural History and Victoria & Albert museums, won pay rises ranging from 13 to 23 per cent after months of strike action. The union boasts that in seven months, security guards secured more than they had in the entire previous decade from their employer, contractor Wilson James.
Prior to the strike many guards earned just £11.95 an hour, below the London Living Wage (LLW) of £13.15 at the time. Despite agreeing to pay the LLW, the highly profitable Wilson James delayed implementing it and initially refused to backdate payments.
On securing victory, the union quoted a female security officer at the Science Museum who said “with UVW, we put up a massive fight and won more in seven months than in years. We protested in the streets, went to trustees’ offices, and stood up for ourselves across all three museums. It showed what’s possible when you’re united. We’re proud of what we achieved, but we know the fight isn’t over. The cost of living keeps going up, and pay needs to keep up too. We can’t let them drop the ball”.
On Tuesday, UVW announced its recognition victory by stating that the security guards are now preparing to negotiate a strong first pay deal in 2026. UVW say that for years, Science Museum bosses have ignored the guards but now they have no choice but to sit down and negotiate with UVW workplace representatives over pay, hours and holidays and their working conditions.
Petros Elia, the UVW General Secretary, said “this is a major breakthrough for security guards at the Science Museum, their bosses have tried to ignore, but they can’t ignore them anymore. Now, UVW members will have a seat at the table and a collective voice in shaping their working lives. This victory is not only a testament to the unity, determination, and courage of the Science Museum’s security team – it’s a message to every worker across the UK; when workers stand together and refuse to back down, we win”.
One wonders why it has taken so long, Non-Departmental Public Bodies are not the worst employers, and in theory at least, support trade union membership. Directly employed staff at these museums belong to the mandarins’ FDA (First Division Association), the high-castes’ Prospect and the biggest civil service union in the country, PCS. But as the arbitrators say in the ruling in favour of UVW “in December 2024, it [the Employer] approached PCS union in a bid to extend its recognition agreement to cover the Science Museum. To its credit, PCS rejected this offer, knowing it was a tactic to exclude UVW. PCS proposed a joint recognition agreement with UVW, which the Employer was willing to accept despite knowing PCS had no mandate. This history confirms a pattern of behaviour: the Employer is not seeking the most representative union but the most convenient one. It is attempting to choose the union for its workers, a fundamental violation of the principle that this choice belongs to the workforce alone”.
Meanwhile at the British Library, in the slightly less loftier surroundings of King’s Cross, strike action by PCS seems to have taken the scalp of the Library’s CEO.
The union which represents the national library’s support staff and library assistants, called 300 staff out on strike in a pay dispute. The Library initially proposed a pay award of 2 per cent at most, with some receiving as little as 1.6 per cent, the threat of action increased the offer to 2.4 per cent (or £800 if higher) which is only slightly more than half the rate of inflation. The Library claims it cannot afford more because of rising energy costs and building materials.
The dispute has caused the closure of the reading rooms. Access to exhibitions has been hit. A number of speakers at planned events have pulled out in solidarity.
The local PCS Branch Chair said “we have quite a few colleagues here who are forced to take a second job in the evenings in order to make ends meet each month”. He added that if there is no immediate movement by management to resolve the dispute amicably, the mandate for industrial action which stretches well into next new year will be used.
He also pointed out that staff have no confidence in management’s abilities to run a national institution. Two years on from a cyber-attack in 2023 on-line access has only been partially restored with many research services remaining unavailable. Yet another restructuring plan is underway, which staff with experience of such matters fully expect to be a disaster.
On Tuesday the Library’s recently appointed CEO Rebecca Lawrence, suddenly resigned, for as yet unknown reasons, but presumably as a result of the dispute. Another side effect of the dispute is that plans to award directors with a £5,000 were abandoned when discovered by PCS.
The picket line has been visited by the grandees of the labour movement including PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote, RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey and UCU General Secretary Jo Grady, largely because their own HQs are nearby and thus handy for a photo-shoot. Neighbouring MP Jeremy Corbyn turned up as did TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak. Oddly enough local MP, Sir Keir Starmer, has not put in an appearance...
In ‘Albertopolis’, the academic nickname for the London home of colleges and museums that go back to the Victorian era, a small street union has at last won a recognition battle with the Science Museum.
On the advice of Albert, the Prince Consort, this slice of Kensington was purchased out of the profits from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to become a centre for the arts and science in the heart of the capital. This seat of learning soon became a magnet for students, scholars and visitors who still throng the hallowed halls of London’s great museums. But behind the scenes there’s been a protracted struggle between the poorly-paid workers who guard the galleries and a Management that, until now, had turned a blind eye to their just demands for more pay.
Now the United Voices of the World (UVW) has, after a long battle, secured recognition at the Science Museum after a ruling by the Central Arbitration Committee, the court which decides such matters.
Earlier this year this independent union, that organises beyond the bureaucratic reach of the TUC, and was involved in a long campaign involving not just the Science Museum, but the neighbouring Natural History and Victoria & Albert museums, won pay rises ranging from 13 to 23 per cent after months of strike action. The union boasts that in seven months, security guards secured more than they had in the entire previous decade from their employer, contractor Wilson James.
Prior to the strike many guards earned just £11.95 an hour, below the London Living Wage (LLW) of £13.15 at the time. Despite agreeing to pay the LLW, the highly profitable Wilson James delayed implementing it and initially refused to backdate payments.
On securing victory, the union quoted a female security officer at the Science Museum who said “with UVW, we put up a massive fight and won more in seven months than in years. We protested in the streets, went to trustees’ offices, and stood up for ourselves across all three museums. It showed what’s possible when you’re united. We’re proud of what we achieved, but we know the fight isn’t over. The cost of living keeps going up, and pay needs to keep up too. We can’t let them drop the ball”.
On Tuesday, UVW announced its recognition victory by stating that the security guards are now preparing to negotiate a strong first pay deal in 2026. UVW say that for years, Science Museum bosses have ignored the guards but now they have no choice but to sit down and negotiate with UVW workplace representatives over pay, hours and holidays and their working conditions.
Petros Elia, the UVW General Secretary, said “this is a major breakthrough for security guards at the Science Museum, their bosses have tried to ignore, but they can’t ignore them anymore. Now, UVW members will have a seat at the table and a collective voice in shaping their working lives. This victory is not only a testament to the unity, determination, and courage of the Science Museum’s security team – it’s a message to every worker across the UK; when workers stand together and refuse to back down, we win”.
One wonders why it has taken so long, Non-Departmental Public Bodies are not the worst employers, and in theory at least, support trade union membership. Directly employed staff at these museums belong to the mandarins’ FDA (First Division Association), the high-castes’ Prospect and the biggest civil service union in the country, PCS. But as the arbitrators say in the ruling in favour of UVW “in December 2024, it [the Employer] approached PCS union in a bid to extend its recognition agreement to cover the Science Museum. To its credit, PCS rejected this offer, knowing it was a tactic to exclude UVW. PCS proposed a joint recognition agreement with UVW, which the Employer was willing to accept despite knowing PCS had no mandate. This history confirms a pattern of behaviour: the Employer is not seeking the most representative union but the most convenient one. It is attempting to choose the union for its workers, a fundamental violation of the principle that this choice belongs to the workforce alone”.
Meanwhile at the British Library, in the slightly less loftier surroundings of King’s Cross, strike action by PCS seems to have taken the scalp of the Library’s CEO.
The union which represents the national library’s support staff and library assistants, called 300 staff out on strike in a pay dispute. The Library initially proposed a pay award of 2 per cent at most, with some receiving as little as 1.6 per cent, the threat of action increased the offer to 2.4 per cent (or £800 if higher) which is only slightly more than half the rate of inflation. The Library claims it cannot afford more because of rising energy costs and building materials.
The dispute has caused the closure of the reading rooms. Access to exhibitions has been hit. A number of speakers at planned events have pulled out in solidarity.
The local PCS Branch Chair said “we have quite a few colleagues here who are forced to take a second job in the evenings in order to make ends meet each month”. He added that if there is no immediate movement by management to resolve the dispute amicably, the mandate for industrial action which stretches well into next new year will be used.
He also pointed out that staff have no confidence in management’s abilities to run a national institution. Two years on from a cyber-attack in 2023 on-line access has only been partially restored with many research services remaining unavailable. Yet another restructuring plan is underway, which staff with experience of such matters fully expect to be a disaster.
On Tuesday the Library’s recently appointed CEO Rebecca Lawrence, suddenly resigned, for as yet unknown reasons, but presumably as a result of the dispute. Another side effect of the dispute is that plans to award directors with a £5,000 were abandoned when discovered by PCS.
The picket line has been visited by the grandees of the labour movement including PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote, RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey and UCU General Secretary Jo Grady, largely because their own HQs are nearby and thus handy for a photo-shoot. Neighbouring MP Jeremy Corbyn turned up as did TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak. Oddly enough local MP, Sir Keir Starmer, has not put in an appearance...
...and at the Tate
...over 100 PCS members working at the Tate Gallery’s four sites may soon be joining them. They are being balloted for possible strike action over pay this week.
The Tate initially offered a 2 per cent rise for workers in 2025/26. “This has now been increased to 3 per cent, but is still lower than the Civil Service Pay Remit and does not address the issues of low pay at the institution,” say PCS.
Again Tate bosses do well for themselves, with senior leaders at Tate taking home total remuneration packages ranging from £195,000 to £320,000. The Art Newspaper partly refuted this by saying that these figures cited include increases in the value of Tate pensions and that all salaries at Tate are below £195,000 – so that’s alright then.
The Tate Management said “Tate has made careful savings this year in order to invest in staff pay and still achieve a balanced budget. This includes a 3 per cent salary increase for most roles, including all employees on the lowest three pay bands, while directors are taking a zero per cent increase to help balance the overall costs.” An unimpressed Fran Heathcote declared that “food prices, rent, energy bills, and transport costs are all surging, but they expect our members to live off crumbs.”
As the Tate workers gear up for industrial action, the struggle at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, which began in August is continuing. As the 40 workers include mine guides who are veterans of the 1984 miners’ strike they are no pushovers.
Unison has demanded an increase of 5 per cent or £1 per hour for all staff, whichever is greater, which it says is simply what Management agreed to recommend to the trustees. Management deny making any such promises and are now offering an extra 80 pence hourly.
Labour-run Wakefield Council recently passed a motion to withhold future grants to the Museum in solidarity with the striking workers in an effort to get management back to round the table. This means a loss of a £15,000 grants programme to support local schools and young people that was awarded through a competitive application process.
