The Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark and the Queen’s House could all be hit by industrial action on Halloween after the Prospect union warned that its members at Royal Museums Greenwich will walk out on 31 October unless their remaining demands are met.
It would be the second round of strikes this year at one of Britain’s most popular museum groups. Members of Prospect — the trade union for specialist professionals — previously walked out for two days in August, forcing the closure of the Queen’s House art gallery and serious disruption at the other three Greenwich sites, with several events cancelled during the solar eclipse viewing.
More than 300 of Royal Museums Greenwich’s 551 staff are Prospect members, and the union says it is giving management a firm deadline to settle the remaining points of contention or face a Halloween walkout.
What the union is asking for
Prospect says some ground has been won since the summer. A two-year pay settlement covering 2026/27 and 2027/28 has been agreed and implemented, and the union acknowledges progress on fixed-term contracts and annual leave arrangements.
But it is not enough. The union says it is frustrated by the “absence of binding commitments and timelines” on the issues still outstanding: a new written annual-leave policy; accreditation for the London Living Wage in 2028; paid breaks for security workers; and guarantees that the museum’s new professional-development framework will cover non-mandatory training.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said: “Our members have shown great solidarity in this dispute, and have already achieved some tangible wins, and they are determined to see this through and secure these reasonable demands.”
The union says it hopes management will agree to its demands so the strike can be called off.
What the museums say
Royal Museums Greenwich said the negotiations so far had produced the two-year pay settlement, which was agreed by the union and implemented. It said the remaining areas of dispute were a small number of non-pay matters, and that a meeting with the conciliation service ACAS had recorded progress and a constructive way forward as the museum made a series of commitments, including engagement with the Living Wage Foundation.
The museums have not yet said what a 31 October strike would mean for visitors. During the August action, the Queen’s House closed entirely while the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory and Cutty Sark remained open to visitors, albeit with disruption.
A long-running row in the heritage sector
The Greenwich dispute is part of a wider wave of industrial unrest across Britain’s museums and galleries this year. Prospect members at the V&A have also voted for action in two separate disputes over pay and conditions, and August’s Greenwich picket lines drew solidarity from across the heritage sector.
For staff on the picket lines in August, the argument was about more than the headline pay settlement. Workers spoke of inflation eating into wages, rising workloads on capital projects, and treatment they said had only begun to change once industrial action started.
A 31 October walkout would fall during half-term week for many schools, traditionally one of the busiest periods for family attractions in London — Greenwich’s four sites welcome millions of visitors a year, and the Christmas season that follows is the busiest of all. With a West End return for The History Boys on the cards for 2027, London’s cultural calendar is crowded — and any disruption at Greenwich would ripple across it. The museum has previously said it plans to keep sites open during action where possible.
The dispute also touches on the London Living Wage campaign in the capital’s cultural sector. The London living wage, set by the Living Wage Foundation, is calculated to reflect the real cost of living in the capital and is distinct from the statutory national minimum wage. Prospect wants Royal Museums Greenwich accredited for it in 2028; the museum says it has engaged with the Foundation on the issue.
Whether visitors trick-or-treating at the National Maritime Museum this Halloween will find staff on the picket line will depend on the next week of negotiations. The union has set the deadline; the museum says talks have been constructive. For now, the strike is a warning — but it is one management will have to take seriously, given the scale of the August action and the solidarity behind it.
File photo: the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. (Photo: JaneArt, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.)
