Unions suspend planned V&A strike after improved pay offer

A planned strike at the V&A over half-term has been suspended after an improved offer from its management.

Museum staff who were members of the Prospect and Public and Commercial Services (PCS) unions had voted to strike on Thursday and Friday in a dispute over pay and working conditions including inadequate toilet and hydration breaks. The strike would have closed the V&A’s main galleries in south Kensington, as well as V&A East, V&A Storehouse and Young V&A in east London.

The strike was suspended on Monday pending last-minute talks with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, after the V&A management made an improved offer.

In a statement PCS said it had suspended strikes planned for 29 and 30 October “to allow Acas-facilitated talks to take place, following an improved offer from the museum”. Prospect and the V&A also confirmed the strike had been suspended while negotiations continued.

The unions are demanding a 4% pay increase for staff earning above the living wage, and for the V&A to become an accredited London living-wage employer within 12 months. They also want time-and-a-half pay for bank holiday working.

On conditions, they are seeking improvements to working during heatwaves and better food at the museum’s east London sites. In July, when staff first voted to strike, a V&A spokesperson said “extensive measures” had been introduced to help staff during the heatwave. These included additional rest breaks and closing some galleries during the hottest periods.

The dispute has previously involved two separate two-day strikes in September.

A V&A spokesperson said: “All V&A museums will be open this week, including all exhibitions, free displays and planned half-term activities. While we are working to reinstate as much of our public programme as possible, unfortunately some events may still be cancelled or postponed – visitors are encouraged to check our website before travelling.

“We welcome this opportunity for constructive discussions with our trade union colleagues. Our latest pay offer delivers an average 4.18% pay rise and a 6.9% increase for our lowest-paid colleagues; increased bank holiday pay to 1.5, alongside a sector-leading bonus scheme and a subsidised food offer for staff at all V&A sites.”

Paula Lamont, Prospect’s national secretary, said: “We will be entering talks in good faith and hope that a resolution to the dispute can be found.”

Earlier this month, Prospect’s general secretary, Mike Clancy, called on the V&A’s director, Tristram Hunt, a former Labour MP, to get involved in the negotiations.

He said: “Prospect members are dedicated to their jobs, and it is these dedicated staff who make the museum the world-class attraction it is. That Tristram Hunt can’t even be bothered to take part in the negotiations himself shows the level of disdain in which he holds his staff.”

The London living wage is now £15.45 an hour. While the V&A has said all its staff are paid at least this rate, some of the museum’s outsourced contractors are not. V&A Dundee, which is not involved in the dispute, is an accredited living-wage employer.