Displaying items by tag: strike

Parisian museumgoers anxious to see Musée d'Orsay's new exhibition featuring artistic depictions of the world's oldest profession will have to wait. Due to a strike from workers protesting plans to keep the museum open seven days a week, the institution was forced to remain closed today.

The Musée d'Orsay announced the closure on Twitter. According to the New York Times, the museum is currently negotiating with strikers and does not know when it will reopen.

Most of the rooms in the Sainsbury Wing of London's National Gallery remained open despite industrial action on August 4 by some of its staff opposed to the privatization of security staff. But it was a different story behind the Trafalgar Square entrance of the gallery. The wooden doors beneath the portico remained shut and the majority of rooms to the east and north of the Central Hall were behind temporary barriers.

Rooms containing 17th-century paintings, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, as well as many works by British artists were shut

While New York's Museum of Modern Art has settled its union dispute, the ongoing staffing crisis at London's National Gallery of Art seems poised to continue, with a strike involving all union workers set to begin on August 17.

The Public and Commercial Services union has informed the museum of its plans, which include four additional days of strikes on August 4, 5, 6, and 12. The union voted overwhelmingly in favor of an all-out strike.

Staff at the National Gallery in London are to stage a five-day strike in a row over the privatization of services. The walk-out, over plans to hand visitor services to a private company, will run from February 3 to 7.

Last week the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said its members had voted by more than nine to one for industrial action. The National Gallery said the proposed changes were "necessary" and that it was "disappointed" by the strike vote.

Unhappiness over jobs, pay, and pensions has led workers at numerous museums, galleries, and heritage sites across the UK to go on strike. The walkout has affected some of the country’s biggest art institutions including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and Tate Liverpool. The National Portrait Gallery released a statement apologizing to patrons and explaining that it was “necessary for some gallery rooms to be closed” due to the strike.

Walkouts are expected to continue through the weekend. Employees of the Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum are expected to participate in the strike but the institutions will remain open to the public. Workers at national heritage sites, including Stonehenge, are planning to take action on Sunday, June 2, 2013.

The nationwide strike is part of a three-month campaign over an ongoing dispute about workers’ rights. The PCS union, the largest civil service union in the UK, is planning a national strike to take place at the end of June.