by Jay Coward, Southeast London Socialist Party
Members of Southeast London Socialist Party went down to Greenwich upon hearing about Prospect union members at the museums entering industrial action.
Their demands are:
- London Living Wage accreditation
- A return of their Christmas annual leave
- Paid breaks and better bank holiday pay
- A dedicated development budget beyond basic training
- Proper clarity and consistency for fixed-term contracts
This was a few of the strikers’ first experience of industrial action but they were driven to it by the circumstances. One striker expressed how difficult it was to make ends meet under current pay conditions, and how they had slight hopes in the new Green council in Lewisham — but only slight!
A young workforce was on a picket spanning multiple locations around the Greenwich Observatory and Cutty Sark simultaneously. Spirits were high and organisation was watertight. Front-of-house staff were out, preventing some sales of eclipse glasses for the solar eclipse the following day.
Among the workers at Royal Museums Greenwich, a few expressed immediate recognition when I brought up similar practices at the Tate Modern, where PCS union members were fighting for sick pay, holiday leave and the like. One said that it’s a similar story at the V&A (Victoria and Albert museum) and that all museums should strike. I replied all public sector workers should strike, period!
Workers on these pickets could easily feel the potential power that they hold, and knew they had to fight for change as they can’t rely on any of the mainstream politicians — Burnham, Polanksi or Farage. The need remains pertinent for our own voice to be represented — we need a new working-class party.