London museum staff begin 2-day stike over pay dispute

Staff members of London's famous Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum on Friday began a two-day strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

Members of the Prospect and PCS unions at the V&A Museum’s South Kensington site are taking strike action on Sept. 25-26 after the V&A and the unions failed to reach an agreement on several issues during regular negotiations.

This latest strike comes after members at three V&A sites (East Storehouse, East Museum and Young V&A) walked out on Sept. 4-5.

In a statement, the PSC union said that V&A director Tristram Hunt had made a "number of claims" about the ongoing dispute.

According to the statement, Hunt alleged that V&A staff would receive an average pay rise of 4.18%.

But the union said that the vast majority of staff, aside from the lowest paid workers, are being offered 3.25%.

"The offer would see staff on the lowest band move to the LLW (London Living Wage) - a 6.9% increase. The employer is, however, refusing to become London Living Wage accredited," the statement said.

It also noted that although the director said "all our staff" have "access to drinking fountains on each floor," the fountains are insufficient "and they are often broken."

In a statement earlier this week following the unions' vote for strike action, the museum expressed deep regret that the unions had voted for strike action.

"The safety and wellbeing of our staff is of the utmost importance to the V&A – all our staff have regular access to water, toilet facilities and breaks while at work," said the museum.

Members of the Prospect and PCS unions at the V&A voted for industrial action last month.