V&A Staff Ballot Strike Over Heat and Pay
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- PCS launched a strike ballot on 23 July covering more than 300 workers at the V&A's South Kensington museum, V&A East Museum and V&A East Storehouse in Stratford, and Young V&A in Bethnal Green, over "serious and unresolved concerns" about pay, heat exposure and drinking water access.
- PCS is demanding the V&A close public areas across all four sites when temperatures exceed 30C, introduce heat mitigation measures for back-of-house staff, and allow workers at V&A East Storehouse to carry and drink water while in exhibit areas rather than waiting to be relieved.
- PCS is also pressing the V&A to become an accredited London Living Wage employer (£14.80/hour); the museum says all directly employed staff already meet that rate but some outsourced contractors do not, with accreditation due for review later this year.
- V&A management has offered a 3.6% increase in the overall pay bill — described as above-inflation as a minimum — and a 6.9% rise for its lowest-paid colleagues, while PCS is calling for a minimum 4% pay increase.
- Prospect is separately balloting its V&A members for strike action over pay and conditions, with that ballot closing on 29 July, making this one of the first UK strike ballots explicitly framed around heatwave workplace safety.
- V&A management said extensive heatwave measures were already in place, including additional rest breaks, increased staff rotations, closing several galleries at South Kensington and shutting Young V&A entirely on 11 days during the peak heat.
Why it matters: The ballot pits two unions — PCS and Prospect — against a flagship national museum in a dispute that goes beyond pay, making it one of the first UK workplace fights to centre on heatwave safety and the treatment of outsourced contractors. A 300-strong walkout across four sites would directly affect visitor access during the summer tourist season and forces the V&A to choose between a 3.6% overall pay bill increase and PCS's 4% demand.
