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Low pay and industrial action at the National Gallery

28 January 2010

In December, PCS members in the National Gallery overwhelmingly rejected their 2009 pay offer, as did members of the other unions.

However, rather than agreeing to re-open talks, gallery director Nicholas Penny simply announced (on the final working day before the Christmas break), that the offer would simply be imposed anyway. This disrespect has greatly angered gallery staff.

Most gallery assistants (‘warders’) basic pay is around £15,000 per year, or £7 per hour, well below the current £7.60 ‘London living wage’ backed by the London mayor and many MP’s. Warders are reliant on unsocial hours premiums and overtime to earn enough to live on.

One member at the gallery told our recent members meeting

“Our managements attitude is that we should feel priveliged to work in such a wonderful environment as the National Gallery. After a 60 hour working week, most of which spent on our feet, helping ever-increasing numbers of visitors, I just about scrape together enough to cover my basic rent, bills and food. I don’t feel so priveliged by the end of each week”.

He added “politicians and newspapers tell us we should feel lucky to just have a job at the moment and shouldn’t ask for pay rises. Well they can try living in London on £15k then”.

PCS National Gallery members are currently being balloted from 22 January to 5 February to take industrial action, to impress on gallery management to return to pay talks with the unions' negotiators.  Prospect union members are also considering taking action.

If the dispute is not resolved a series of lunchtime walk-outs and demonstrations outside the gallery in Trafalgar Square is planned.

For further information on how you can support National Gallery members in their fight for a living wage, please contact PCS officer Keith Johnston on (020) 7801 2764.

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