National Gallery security staff segregated like 'second-class citizens', curator claims
An anonymous curator at the National Gallery claims outsourced security guards, mostly from minority ethnic backgrounds, are forced to take breaks in a stifling basement, while in-house staff enjoy a bright hub with canteen facilities. The union warns the practice could be discriminatory.
A senior curator at the National Gallery in London has alleged that security staff are treated as "second-class citizens" due to a segregated break arrangement. The outsourced guards, the vast majority of whom come from minority ethnic backgrounds, are barred from the building's "hub" – a bright, airy recreation area featuring a heavily subsidised canteen with its own chef. That space is reserved for the institution's predominantly white in-house employees, including curators and marketing staff.
Instead, the security guards are relegated to a basement room described as "dingy, dirty and dark", with broken furniture, recurring rodent issues, and no natural light or air conditioning. The space, which staff say was intended for storage rather than people, has a kiosk offering little beyond a KitKat and no cooked food. Employees have compared the situation to the TV drama "Upstairs, Downstairs".
According to the curator, the gallery's justification that the hub needs to be kept uncrowded is questionable. On any given day, there are around 60 guards on site, but only a handful take breaks simultaneously. The PCS union, which represents the security staff, has written to the gallery's director, arguing that forcing a largely black and Asian workforce into a basement while mostly white staff enjoy proper facilities is "potentially discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010". Nick Marro, the PCS culture group secretary, said there is "no excuse for the two-tier workforce".
Security staff are also concerned that expecting a single guard to cover up to four rooms at once puts the collection at risk. Recent incidents at the gallery include Just Stop Oil activists throwing tomato soup over Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and attacking Velázquez's "Rokeby Venus" with hammers.
The National Gallery said security staff have not had access to the hub offices since they were established due to space constraints, and that dedicated facilities are provided elsewhere for security staff and other contractors. The gallery added that CIS Security, which employs the guards, had recently conducted a staff survey and was implementing improvements, including a subsidised vending machine. CIS declined to comment.
