As the National Gallery prepares to put all its gallery services out to tender, Polly Toynbee reflects on the implications for staff and calls for more power to be restored to the unions.
The National Gallery’s colonnaded splendour radiates across Trafalgar Square a sense of the importance of art in Britain’s national life. But the reality inside is far less glorious. The 400 gallery assistants are about to be outsourced to a private company against their will, to squeeze pay and conditions. A ballot by their union, PCS, closes this week, calling for a five-day strike in protest.
All day they guard the nation’s treasures: not automata, but well-informed, if untrained, guides who like to be asked questions, know where paintings are, are glad to advise nervous visitors unsure what to look at... Keep reading on The Guardian
The National Gallery’s colonnaded splendour radiates across Trafalgar Square a sense of the importance of art in Britain’s national life. But the reality inside is far less glorious. The 400 gallery assistants are about to be outsourced to a private company against their will, to squeeze pay and conditions. A ballot by their union, PCS, closes this week, calling for a five-day strike in protest.
All day they guard the nation’s treasures: not automata, but well-informed, if untrained, guides who like to be asked questions, know where paintings are, are glad to advise nervous visitors unsure what to look at... Keep reading on The Guardian