Curse of Low Pay

By New Worker correspondent

In their line of duty archaeologists sometimes have to brave many dangers, such as working in damp ditches whilst digging out half a leather boot or braving the curse of the mummy. Archæologists employed by the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) face more a mundane problem however – low pay.

Prospect members working at MOLA have just voted 78 per cent in favour of strike action (with 94 per cent for action short of a strike) over pay and the failure of their management (the wealthiest local authority in Britain, if not the world) to implement a pay structure. Apart from work for the museum, MOLA’s 300 staff undertake archaeological work on behalf of clients in London and further afield, including Crossrail and HS2.

In June the bosses imposed a 2.5 per cent pay award even though it had been rejected by union members who have long been suffering financial hardship due to low pay in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

The dispute also concerns a pay structure that MOLA executive management promised would be in place by April 2019. This undertaking was made to settle an industrial dispute last year but they have now reneged on their commitment. Had the pay structure been in place as promised then staff would have received an incremental rise in addition to a cost-of-living award.

Andy Bye, Prospect’s negotiator, said: “MOLA is in crisis with experienced staff leaving and market share in London going to its main competitor which pays archæologists £2,000 more per year.

“Executive managers have ignored the views of staff and the impact their pay policy and management style is having on MOLA as a whole. With this vote for industrial action, MOLA staff have said enough is enough. If management don’t start listening and paying a fair wage then it’s hard to see how MOLA can continue to operate competitively.”

Museum News

By New Worker correspondent

Workers at the Museum of London and the city’s Docklands Museum have had a below-inflation pay rise imposed by Britain’s richest local authority, the Corporation of the City of London. Trade union Prospect is to ballot its members at the Museum over the 1.5 per cent rise.

This is just the latest in a number of below-inflation pay rises that left workers at the museums with a nine per cent real-term pay cut since 2014. This austerity naturally did not apply to the director’s salary, which increased in real terms by five per cent including bonus last year, and the number of bosses earning over £100,000 year has doubled.

Sharon Brown, Prospect negotiations officer, said: “Our members are finding it increasingly difficult to cope on such low wages and this 1.5 per cent pay rise is especially galling when the director saw her pay increase by five per cent last year when you include bonus.

“The Museum will claim that with performance pay their offer achieves parity with inflation but an employee shouldn’t have to perform significantly above job requirements just to keep up with the cost of living. People need to be able to plan their finances and look after their families. A bonus should give people the possibility of improving their quality of life, not simply bring them up to the level they need to survive.”

Staff at the Science Museum Group (SMG) are also going to on strike in a dispute over pay.

A 24-hour strike has been scheduled for Friday, 30th August with a work-to-rule earlier that week.

Once again the issue was an imposed 1.5 per cent pay rise. Prospect said this was just the latest in a series of below-inflation pay rises that left workers with a 13 per cent real-terms pay cut since 2010, and once again the bosses were doing well. Members voted to reject the deal and voted 79.3 per cent in favour of strike action, with 94.8 per cent saying that they were prepared to take part in action short of a strike.

Sharon Brown said: “Members in SMG love their jobs but they cannot carry on with year after year of real-terms pay cuts. The group has left us with no option but to strike.

“I’m sure that most of the million or so people visiting SMG museums this summer will be astounded at how poorly its staff are paid, especially when they see that the director's pay has increased by a third in just four years.”

The union meekly added that it was not the intention of members to close the museums as a result of the action.

The union said the SMG’s minimum hourly rate is significantly below the voluntary Real Living Wage of £9 per hour and £10.55 in London.

The dispute covers not just the Science Museum at South Kensington but the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York, Blythe House in London and the National Collections Centre in Wroughton, Wiltshire.