Security guards at Science and Natural History museums ballot to strike
Outsourced security guards at the Natural History and Science museums are balloting to strike in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Security guards at the two South Kensington museums have had “significant real-terms pay cuts for years” and are now among the lowest-paid workers at the museums, according to United Voices of the World (UVW) union.
Union members are asking for a wage of £16 an hour and full sick pay. The union said workers currently only get sick pay from day four of an illness absence.
Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said: “The guards, who are mainly migrant workers, are protecting millions of visitors every year and priceless exhibits and artefacts, and they shouldn’t be among the lowest paid workers in the museum.”
Workers currently earn £11.95 per hour, 51p above the minimum wage, which was the London Living Wage in 2022.
UVW said their wages are set to be increased to the current London Living Wage of £13.15 per hour, which was introduced in October 2023.
But, the guards describe the increase as “too little, too late”. Their last wage rise – 4.5 per cent – was more than a year ago and came in substantially below inflation at the time which was 11 per cent.
Bayo Owolabi, a UVW member and security guard at the Science Museum, said: “The other museum staff have received pay rises in line with inflation. The rising cost of rent, energy, groceries, and transport has made it hard to make ends meet.
“It’s stressful and a struggle having to do so much overtime and working unsociable hours. It puts a strain on our family lives.”
The security guards are outsourced to contractor Wilson James. The contract for providing security guards to the museums, who are part of a consortium with the Victoria & Albert Museum, was worth more than £63million at the point of tender, according to UVW.
The union said Wilson James and the museums have refused to negotiate with the security guards and their union.
The security guards UVW represents across the two museums are just under half British, with the remainder coming from Poland, India, Portugal, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Sweden, Uganda, Macedonia, Malta, Lithuania, Eritrea, Jamaica, Zambia and Belgium. In some cases, these security guards have been working at the museums for decades.
Their day to day roles include operating control rooms, perimeter security and internal patrols, emergency response and first aid, management of electronic security systems, event and exhibition security officers, staff entrance security, traffic control, bag search and door security.
Catherine Campbell, a UVW member who has worked as a security guard at the Science Museum for 13 years, said: “I’m a fully trained first aider. I take this responsibility very seriously and I have seen some bad injuries over the years.
“Everything from bumped heads to deep lacerations and miscarriages. This can be stressful to deal with. I am always happy to help and do my best but I believe this level of responsibility should be reflected in my salary.”
If the security guards vote to strike, industrial action is expected to take place between October 21, 2024 and April 3, 2025.
The strike ballot opened on Friday and closes on October 4.
Ms Elia said: “The museum’s decision to outsource the guards in the first place immediately demoted them to the rank of a second class worker in the museum, excluded from the museum community and from the museum workers’ pay rates and other benefits and it’s about time the museums bring them in-house where they belong.”
A Wilson James spokeswoman said: “We highly value our employees and are committed to fair and transparent negotiations. We are actively engaged in conversations with our colleagues and formally recognised trade union representatives at the Science Museum and Natural History Museum and remain dedicated to seeking an effective pay resolution.”
Pictured top: Natural History Museum in South Kensington (Picture: Google Street View)