The Tate Will Pay All of Its Commercial Workers Through April—But Employees at Other UK Museums Are Facing an Uncertain Future

The
Tate will pay all of its staff at its four locations across the UK
during its enforced closure due to the spread of the
coronavirus.

Tate
director Maria Balshaw confirmed to Artnet News that employees of
Tate’s shops, cafes, and other commercial operations will be paid
like their colleagues in curatorial and other departments at Tate
Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate St Ives until May
1.

But the situation facing retail,
catering, cleaning, and others workers who have been outsourced at
other leading UK museums, which are also closed, is unclear. Many
have been left in the dark about their job security, and fears are
mounting as mass
layoffs unfold at companies around the world.

The
trade union Prospect, which represents 145,000 workers in a
range of professions, including museum employees, is urging institutions to continue paying all
their staff, including those who have been outsourced following
waves of government funding cuts in recent years that have forced
museums to outsource jobs, especially in catering, retail, cleaning, and
security. 

“Our
worry is that agency and temporary workers are not being covered in
this way and are likely to face extreme hardship in the very near
future,” Prospect said in a statement. “Agency workers and those on
zero hours should be covered by the same provisions that employees
are at this difficult time.” 

While
the UK government is expected to announce some form of support to
employers so they may continue paying staff, some Members of
Parliament are even pushing for a universal basic income
plan to be unrolled during the coronavirus emergency. Freelance
staff and other self-employed arts workers have lots thousands of
pounds in potential earnings already.

But
there was some welcome news for anxious staff in the now shuttered
restaurants of the National Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, and
the Wallace Collection in London.

The
multinational catering giant Sodexo, which runs the eateries, says
it will look to place out-of-work employees in alternative
positions on a temporary basis. 

“If that is not possible, we will continue to pay the employee
normal pay for their contracted hours during this time, subject to
any specific provisions in individuals’ contracts,” a
Sodexo spokesperson said in a
statement.

The
restaurants at the British Museum are run by Benugo, which also
oversees concessions at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Museum of
London, and Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

In a
statement on its website about Covid-19, Benugo’s co-founder, Ben
Warner, said: “Where we
operate inside a museum or performing art space, our hours and
ability to open are led by our clients.”

The
company did not immediately respond to questions from Artnet News
about potential staff layoffs now that museums are
closed. Artnet New
understands that the V&A is holding talks with Benugo and
other subcontractors, which provide security and cleaning staff.
Unlike caterers and food-service employees, security guards and
cleaners will continue to play key roles while the V&A is
closed to the public, albeit in fewer numbers.

The British Museum, meanwhile,
referred questions about its operations to Benugo.

Earlier this week, Prime
Minister Boris Johnson asked people to work from home and avoid
public gatherings. While he asked theaters and restaurants to
shutter, he did not mention its large museums, leaving directors
and trustees to take matters into their own hands. That was the
first, rapidly followed by the Royal Academy of Arts, and British
Museum. The National
Gallery was the last to shutter it doors yesterday evening, March
19.

The post The Tate Will Pay All of Its Commercial Workers
Through April—But Employees at Other UK Museums Are Facing an
Uncertain Future appeared first on artnet News.