Security guards at two of the UK’s most prestigious museums – the Science and Natural History museums – are balloting for strike action in a dispute over wages.
More than 70 guards who, unlike many other museum staff, are not employed in-house but are outsourced to a company called Wilson James, are taking part in the strike ballot, which opened on Friday (6 September).
Members of the United Voices of the World union say their rates of pay are “stuck in the past”. The union says the security guards have had significant real-terms pay cuts for years and are among the lowest-paid workers at the museums.
They are asking for a wage of £16 an hour instead of the planned increase to £13.15 an hour. They currently earn £11.95 an hour, 51p above the minimum wage, which was the London living wage in 2022.
The guards are also asking for full sick pay from day one of any illness or injury requiring them to take time off work. Currently they get sick pay only from day four of an illness absence.
Along with an increase in wages to £16 an hour and improvements to sick pay, the guards are calling for increased annual and compassionate leave. They currently receive only statutory minimum levels.
Union officials say that both the museums and Wilson James have reported healthy profits.
The Natural History Museum reported an overall surplus of £29.8m in its 2023-24 accounts, while in its annual review for 2023-24 the Science Museum reported “exceptionally strong commercial results”. In accounts to July 2023 filed by Wilson James, a profit of £7m was recorded.
About half of the security guards the UVW represents across the two museums are British nationals with the others coming from Poland, India, Portugal, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Sweden, Uganda, Macedonia, Malta, Lithuania, Eritrea, Jamaica, Zambia and Belgium. Some have been working at the museums for decades.
Their duties include operating control rooms, perimeter security and internal patrols, emergency response and first aid, management of electronic security systems, bag search and door security. The union says the museums could not function without them and the services they provide.
If the security guards vote to strike, industrial action is expected to take place between 21 October and 3 April 2025.
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Kingsley Ampofo, a UVW member and security guard at the Natural History Museum, said: “We have to work more days as overtime to make ends meet at the expense of our health and our families.
Every member of the museum’s workforce, including the directors, have received a decent rise in their wages. So why not the security guards who work their socks off to ensure the safety of both people and property?”
Petros Elia, the general secretary for the UVW, said: “It’s not rocket science – the security guards deserve pay that is fit for the present, not that is stuck in the past. 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.”
A Wilson James spokesperson said: “We highly value our employees and are committed to fair and transparent negotiations. We are actively engaged in conversations with our colleagues and trade union representatives at the Science Museum and Natural History Museum and remain dedicated to seeking an effective pay resolution.”