Pay & Conditions: A Striking Balance
“When the Union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun.
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?
But the Union makes us strong.”
(Solidarity Forever – by Ralph Chaplin, January 1915).
picket at the maritime museum
Industrial action appears to be picking up within museums in the public sector. Council leaders in an attempt to ‘cut costs’ (and obviously unwilling to loose their own inflated salaries) have decided to attempt to force already low paid workers in museums to work additional hours without the normal overtime pay.
Union representative Terry Hinton, 55, said:
“The council are asking the staff at the museums to work Sundays as part of their contract and give up their pay enhancements on Saturdays as well. That is just too much for our members to accept and the strike is a result of their voting.”
So far the industrial action has consisted of a strike, and a vote to ‘work to rule’, thus closing the various museums in different manners.
So, who’s out so far…..
Dublin: Voted to “work to rule”… thus closed on Sundays.
* The National Museum
* Collins Barracks
Southampton: Voted to “work to rule”… thus closing the museums on Sunday’s and Monday’s… in addition to the Saturday Strike action.
* Maritime museum
* City Art Gallery
* Museum of Archaeology
And given the current economic climate this may well be coming to a museum near you… soon.
Unions:
* http://www.cpsu.ie/
* http://www.unitetheunion.com/
Sources:
Collins, L. 2009. ‘Museum workers give public sector bad name’. Independent.ie Sunday April 12 2009. Online: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/museum-workers-give–public-sector-bad-name-1706537.html
pete. 2009. The Inevitable Clash of Management and Unions. New Curator. April 13, 2009 at 9:10 pm. Online: http://newcurator.com/2009/04/the-inevitable-clash-of-management-and-unions/
Southern Daily Echo. 2009. Dispute leads to museum’s closure. Southern Daily Echo. 8:30am Saturday 4th April 2009. Online: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/education/4266239.Dispute_leads_to_museum___s_closure/
Southern Daily Echo. 2009. Southampton museum staff strike over pay and hours. Southern Daily Echo. 7:20am Monday 6th April 2009. Online: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4268723.Council_museum_staff_strike_over_pay_and_hours/
Hi Dan,
What is ‘work to rule’? I am unfamiliar with that term.
from the wikipedia definition…
Work to Rule: is an industrial action in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of a workplace, and follow safety or other regulations to the letter in order to cause a slowdown rather than to serve their purpose. This is considered less disruptive than a strike or lockout; and just obeying the rules is less susceptible to disciplinary action.
In some languages (e.g. Russian and Hebrew) it is known as “Italian strike”, as it is believed that it was first utilized in Italy in the 1904. In Italy, it is known as “sciopero bianco” or “white strike”.
My definition: Basically most workplaces have so many rules and regulations, which on a daily basis are totally ignored in order to actually get the job done… the idea being that if you work to the rule book its just as effective as a strike, but, it doesn’t involve striking… in fact you are literally not breaking any rules. Making sure every single health and safety regulation is followed is the usual method, as there are millions of them! Or not doing things that aren’t specifically in the job description is another.
Sometimes the rules that are followed in such actions are comically idiotic… and in this way the workers by following them also point out just how silly some rules are.