Members of staff at the V&A East Storehouse and across the V&A's three other London sites have voted to strike in a dispute over concerns about working conditions, especially during recent heatwaves, as well as over pay.
The trade union Prospect says collections access officers at V&A East Storehouse, which opened in May last year, are denied enough time during the day for toilet breaks or hydration in “Amazon-style” conditions. These employees facilitate the storehouse's ”order an object” service, which allows visitors to request to view and potentially handle work from the collection.
At the storehouse in Stratford, 88% of Prospect members responded to the ballot, with 100% of respondents voting in favour of strike action, and 92% of respondents also voting in favour of action short of a strike.
“Collections access officers at the new V&A East Storehouse are not entitled to morning or afternoon breaks, making it difficult for staff to take a drink of water or use the toilet during their shift,” said a Prospect statement in advance of the vote. The officers should subsequently be given two paid 15-minute breaks, says the union.
According to The Guardian, 83% of members at the V&A's four London sites—South Kensington, V&A East Storehouse, V&A East Museum and the Young V&A—voted for strike action on an 82% turnout, and 95% voted for action short of a strike.
As part of the wider dispute, Prospect is also calling on the museum to deliver a minimum 4% pay increase for staff earning above the Living Wage, pay time-and-a-half for bank holiday working and become an accredited London Living Wage employer within 12 months. The timing of any industrial action has yet to be decided.
Meanwhile more than 300 staff members across the V&A from another union, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), were balloted for strike action amid ongoing pay negotiations and further concerns about working conditions.
An industrial action ballot of PCS members at the four V&A London sites opened on 23 July and will close at noon on 20 August.
In a statement, PCS claims that “V&A management has refused to negotiate a better pay offer for workers(on Band 6 and above) or become a Real Living Wage accredited employer”.
A petition launched by PCS, addressed to the UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy and Tristram Hunt, the director of the V&A museum, says: “When we mention that curators in other institutions have higher salaries, we are told a bigger increase for us would only be possible if they lower pay for our front of house colleagues. We all deserve fair pay, and it’s not fair that an uplift for some should result in poverty wages for others!”
PCS also says that it is “furious over health and safety issues” at the V&A's London sites: “At a time of soaring temperatures and record-breaking heatwaves, PCS is calling for a cross-site policy of closing museum doors at 30 degrees for the safety of members and visitors alike, as well as heat mitigation measures for back of house staff.”
According to PCS, workers are not allowed to carry water at the V&A East Storehouse, and, at flagship South Kensington site, gallery assistants are expected to work shifts in the garden in extreme hot weather. One PCS member reported to the union that the ”lack of convenient access to water has caused me to become dehydrated at work many times and in one instance caused me to faint on my way home from work”.
At time of publication, the PCS petition had just reached it its 800 signature goal.
A V&A spokesperson refuted several of the unions' claims to The Art Newspaper, stating: “The V&A has been in negotiations with the trade union side since February and those negotiations are ongoing. Our offer sees a 3.6% increase in the overall pay bill, an above inflation pay award as a minimum, and 6.9% increase for our lowest paid colleagues. As always, we have maintained our long-standing commitment to paying at least the London Living Wage.
The safety and wellbeing of our staff is of utmost importance to the V&A—all our staff have access to water and toilet facilities and regular breaks while at work. At V&A East Storehouse we have water fountains on every floor to ensure both staff and visitors in Front of House areas have access to drinking water throughout the building. To ensure the safety and security of national collections, during visits to V&A East Storehouse, food and drink are not permitted for visitors or staff in the main Collections Hall or storage areas.
Extensive measures were implemented to support our staff during the heatwave, ranging from additional rest breaks, increasing staff rotations across gallery spaces, closing several galleries at V&A South Kensington and closing Young V&A altogether on eleven days during the peak of the heatwave.”
