V&A Museum closes three sites amid industrial action

The Victoria and Albert Museum is to close three of its sites this week amid a two day walkout by workers in their dispute with management over pay and conditions.

Members of the PCS and Prospect unions working at the V&A’s East Storehouse, East Museum and Young V&A will walk out on 4-5 September.

Additionally, from September 4 PCS members will begin an indefinite period of action short of a strike (ASOS) at all sites, including in South Kensington. This includes a ban on overtime, work to rule and withdrawal of cooperation.

In a statement the museum said it had made “the difficult decision” to close the three sites due to the action and “we are very sorry for the inconvenience to our visitors”.

It added that while V&A South Kensington and Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art will remain open “there may be individual gallery closures so visitors should check the website before travelling”.

The strike action is taking place over the museum’s “failure to provide an acceptable pay offer or being a Real Living Wage accredited employer”, according to PCS.

Workers are also “demanding action on a number of health and safety issues, including suitable seating arrangements and heat mitigation measures. Access to drinking water and a policy of closing public-facing areas at 30 degrees are among their key demands”, added the union.

PCS says that 95.39% of its members voted for strike action on a turnout of 87.04%. In the same ballot 97.86% of workers signalled their willingness to carry out ASOS.

V&A members "have now been left with no choice but to take strike action", said PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote.

"Our members will not stand by while their concerns are ignored. If management wants to avoid further disruption, it needs to get around the table with PCS and start negotiating seriously.”

The museum’s statement added: “We deeply regret that the trade unions have voted for strike action.

“We have been negotiating with them in good faith since February and have met the majority of their demands with a significantly improved offer, which we believe is fair, competitive and affordable. We remain available for negotiations with our Trade Union colleagues.”