Could the trend for replacing front of house staff with volunteers be damaging the UK’s arts ecology? David Trigg investigates.
When Liverpool's FACT advertised for unpaid gallery attendants earlier this year, plenty of eyebrows were raised. The voluntary positions replaced previously paid roles following the arts venue’s decision to make 11 employees redundant, and the move prompted protests in Liverpool and beyond. The London-based activist group the Precarious Workers Brigade penned an open letter criticising the move and making the often-stated point: replacing paid jobs with volunteers effectively shuts the door to those who can’t afford to give their time and expertise for free.
In a statement defending their decision, FACT cited financial pressure as a key factor: “Like many organisations of our kind, we are affected by today’s challenging financial climate, and have had to respond to public funding cuts over the past few years in order to remain sustainable... Keep reading on a-n
When Liverpool's FACT advertised for unpaid gallery attendants earlier this year, plenty of eyebrows were raised. The voluntary positions replaced previously paid roles following the arts venue’s decision to make 11 employees redundant, and the move prompted protests in Liverpool and beyond. The London-based activist group the Precarious Workers Brigade penned an open letter criticising the move and making the often-stated point: replacing paid jobs with volunteers effectively shuts the door to those who can’t afford to give their time and expertise for free.
In a statement defending their decision, FACT cited financial pressure as a key factor: “Like many organisations of our kind, we are affected by today’s challenging financial climate, and have had to respond to public funding cuts over the past few years in order to remain sustainable... Keep reading on a-n