12.06.2025 / Press releases / Natural History, Science and V&A Museums

UVW security guards at London’s top museums secure major pay rises after sustained strike action

• Security guards at London’s top museums – the Natural History, Science, and Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museums – have secured significant pay increases ranging from 13% to 23% following months of sustained strike action and organising through their union, United Voices of the World (UVW).
• The pay improvements, achieved after over 50 days of walkouts and pressure campaigns targeting both security contractor Wilson James and the museums, mark a major shift for a workforce that had faced years of wage stagnation and pay well below the London Living Wage. (LLW)
• In just seven months since UVW declared a dispute and the guards took strike action, the outsourced security guards have won more than they did in the entire previous decade, securing pay rises worth several thousand pounds a year, adding up to over £8,000 annually to the guards’ salaries depending on seniority. 

In total, the guards took 50+ days of strike action, starting last October and including a month of nearly daily walkouts in February, as well as impromptu visits to the museums’ Trustees. 

Since UVW submitted a pay claim in the fourth quarter of 2024, the guards have gained more ground than they had in the previous ten years combined. This includes overcoming six years of frozen wages, an employer that failed to address low pay and delayed the implementation of the London Living Wage, and years of being left behind despite the museums’ record-breaking income and visitor numbers.  

Between 2019 and 2021, guards received a paltry 1.2% pay rise while Wilson James doubled its profits to over £7.6 million annually. Many guards were earning just £11.95 an hour in the summer of 2024, before taking strike action as UVW members — well below LLW of £13.15 at the time, which Wilson James initially refused to backdate or implement immediately. 

This outcome is a hard-won step forward after tireless organising by the guards themselves, who remain committed to building on this momentum to continue improving their pay and working conditions.

The Museums make millions of pounds annually and have seen record growth in recent years. According to the Natural History Museum Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24, the museum saw “a record year for visitor numbers, just shy of 6.0m (2023: 5.3m), generating an increase in visitor related income, total income grew to £135.5m (2023: £117.0m).” The Science Museum’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24 also boasts of “a record-breaking year for profit, aided by an increase in visitors, benefiting visitor-related income” and celebrates their “self generated unrestricted income” reaching a five-year high. Overall, “(…) the Group’s funds increased by £23.2m to a total of £659.3m at 31 March 2024 (2023: £636.1m). At March 2024 the Group’s expendable reserves have increased to £95.8m (2022–23: £89.0m)”

Geoffrey Davis, security supervisor at the Natural History museum since 2014, UVW member:  

“Since we organised with UVW and stood up for ourselves, they’ve had to listen. They know now they can’t just push us aside, they can’t just walk all over us, they have to listen to our side of the story. Before our fight and our win, we didn’t feel as if we were worth anything, but now, you feel you’re worth something. You are a person. You are being recognised as a human being. That made me very happy.

I’m with UVW because I believe in what we’re fighting for. and we need reps who are 100% behind this too. You have to be united and have a plan, work out your strategy, figure out what you want and what you are happy with.

We’ve won more with the support of UVW in seven months than in the previous seven years with a different union. With the backing of UVW, we took strike action and importantly we put pressure on the Trustees by visiting them in their workplaces. The combination of all of our collective actions paid off. That’s how change happens.”

 Catherine Campbell, security office at Science Museum and UVW member said:

“With UVW, we put up a massive fight and we won more in seven months than we had in years. We went from £11.95 to £14.05 an hour. We did everything: we protested in the streets, went to the trustees’ offices, and stood up for ourselves across all three museums. It showed what’s possible when you’re united. We’re really proud of what we achieved. That said, we know we have to stay alert, keep the pressure on and hold the employer accountable. The cost of living keeps going up, and pay needs to keep up too. We can’t let them drop the ball.

I am a completely different person, happy that I’ve stood up for myself as an individual because, you know what? I do deserve it. I do work hard, and  I do deserve a pay rise. I feel like the fact that we took action with the help of UVW  is a massive achievement and I’m so proud of myself and my colleagues.  UVW gave us the confidence, pushed us forward, to do this and it shows what you can do together. You don’t have to feel like you’re on your own. You can do stuff as a group and you feel supported, and it restores your faith in humanity.  It gives you a new sense of confidence so you don’t have to feel bad about yourself or about where you’re working. And I want to tell others there’s people out there that want to help you, that you can actually get paid for the work that you put in and it can be done. In that way this experience has completely changed me.”

Petros Elia, general secretary for UVW, said: 

“This victory shows what happens when workers stand united and refuse to be treated as second-class. Our members at the museums have shown immense courage, taking on powerful institutions and winning real gains in pay and dignity. Despite being ignored and sidelined,and the employers refusal to engage with their union of choice, they did not back down. Through relentless strike action, bold tactics and sheer collective strength, they’ve forced some of the UK’s most powerful cultural institutions to listen. They have won more in seven months of organised action than they had in the 10 years prior, with thousands of pounds more per year going into their pockets. These are real, life-changing wins, won by unionising, standing together and fighting back. This is the power of working-class organising.”

For more information contact the UVW comms team.                  

Isabel: 07706 987443
Cristina: 07548 759340

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk 

Notes for editors

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

More on the museums strike:

• Security guards at Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A urge public to not visit museums during historic month-long strike in February
• Striking security guards visit V&A trustee Amanda Levete to demand fair pay and sick leave
• Over 100 security guards to make history by taking co-ordinated strike action across the Science, Natural History and V&A Museums 
• Strike action at the Natural History and Science Museums suspended pending talks 
• Victoria and Albert Museum security guards begin ballot to strike, join forces with Science and Natural History colleagues in fight for fair pay 
• UVW union threatens landmark private prosecution over strike-breaking regulations against museum security contractor Wilson James and agency BMSL 
• Now, that’s what you call a picket! Over 300 join striking museum security guards
• Security guards at Natural History and Science museums announce strikes over October half term and Halloween
• Security guards at the Natural History and Science museums vote overwhelmingly to strike!
• Fighting for fair pay is a matter of principle

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