British Library workers vote to strike

PCS members at the British Library have voted 98.23% in favour of industrial action on a turnout of 75.17% in a ballot that closed yesterday (13).

The dispute centres on the organisation’s failure to offer an above-inflation pay award for a second consecutive year. In a recent survey of British Library members, PCS found that most workers struggle each month to make ends meet

While the British Library initially proposed a pay award of 2%, with some receiving as little as 1.6%, it has since increased the offer to 2.4%. In a win for PCS, the British Library has now gone back on plans to offer £5,000 in annual bonuses to directors as part of a restructure. The decision was announced after PCS went public about the proposed restructure which would have seen the director team double, while offering workers a below-inflation pay award.

Over 300 PCS are expected to walk out from Monday 27 October until Sunday 9 November. The strike dates coincide with the two-year anniversary of a cyber-attack where staff members’ personal data was leaked on to the dark web, as well as the opening of a major new exhibition, ‘Secret Maps’.

 PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said: “A near unanimous vote for strike action is just a small glimpse into the strength of feeling among our members at the British Library.

“They are livid at yet another insulting pay offer that does little to alleviate the health problems that many suffer from because of low pay. Nor does it come close to ending the need for many to work second jobs and take out loans to pay their bills and meet their housing costs.

“The employer's well-paid executives need to take the blinkers off and understand that our hard-working members are what makes the British Library the vital cultural institution that it is."

For further details about the dispute, please contact the PCS Culture group secretary, Hareem Ghani, on [email protected] 

Please follow the PCS British Library branch on Instagram and X.