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24.02.2025 / News / Natural History, Science and V&A Museums

Noor’s fight for sick pay and dignity at the V&A Museum

“They only pay me Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – £500 a month – the months I’m sick. I have a family to look after and the cost of living is too high. How can I live on £500?” Noor Sadiq – security guard at V&A Museum and UVW member.

For three years, Noor Sadiq, a British citizen of Somali heritage, has worked as a Security Relief Officer at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Every day, he protects the museum, its visitors and its priceless collections. But when Noor developed chronic back and foot pain from long hours of standing, his employer Wilson James refused to support him.

“They know about my back pain and foot pain, but they don’t want to pay my sick pay properly. They only give me £500 a month—Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). I have a family to look after. My rent is £2,000, and the cost of living is too high. I’m not on benefits. How can I live on £500?”

Noor, 32, is a dedicated father of four young children, aged 9, 8, 7 and 6. Like many of his colleagues, he has spent years working hard in one of the UK’s most famous museums, only to be left struggling when he needed support the most.

Since developing health problems in 2022, Noor has been in and out of work, taking time off when the pain becomes unbearable. Each time, he has only been paid SSP—just £500 a month—far too little to survive on. Noor is not claiming any benefits. 

 “I have used up all my savings just to keep going. Now, I have nothing left, and I don’t know how I’m going to live,” he told us.

The demand for full pay sick pay is one of the most important ones a worker will ever make. It can be the difference, quite literally, between living and dying.

In the UK, SSP is just £109.40 per week, one of the lowest sick pay rates in Europe. It deducts 100% of pay for the first three days of illness and then only provides workers with under £3 an hour. This leaves workers with about 17% of their wages on average when on sick leave, whereas in most of the rest of Europe, the proportion of a workers wage covered by statutory sick pay is between 70%-100%.

Museum security guards aren’t entitled to proper sick pay, unlike their colleagues directly employed by the museum. Instead, Wilson James forces them to survive on a tiny, fixed amount, pushing them into financial hardship when they fall ill. Meanwhile, Wilson James—a company making some £8 million in profits after tax—continues to pay its security guards poverty wages.

Noor and his colleagues have had enough. Backed by their union United Voices of the World (UVW) they have joined forces with colleagues from the Natural History and Science museums and all together they are demanding a real pay rise to £16 an hour after years of wage stagnation, sick pay from day one, like directly employed museum staff and equal rights and benefits as other museum workers. They’ve been on strike for three weeks in February alone, after several rounds of strikes which started in October 2024. 

Despite being in severe pain, Noor is a workplace leader, helping to organise and build UVW power at work  Since joining United Voices of the World (UVW), he has helped bring dozens of fellow security guards into the fight for justice.

 “UVW is the best union I’ve ever worked with. They are fighting for and with us. The museums must step up and pay us what we deserve. All security guards out there should join UVW”.

Noor’s fight is part of something bigger. The security guards at the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum have paused their historic strike as they await news of a pay offer—but if the museums and Wilson James fail to deliver, they will walk out again on 7 March.

The fight isn’t over. The power is in their hands.

Support the security guards, make a donation to their strike fund here >>

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