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🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Culture & Society

National Gallery security staff segregated like ‘second-class citizens’, curator claims

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A senior curator claims National Gallery security staff face shocking segregation, with most from ethnic minority backgrounds.
  • Outsourced guards are barred from a high-quality recreation area, relegated instead to a "stifling" basement with broken furniture.
  • The situation has been likened to "Upstairs, Downstairs," with staff treated like "second-class citizens."

The National Gallery's outsourced security staff, predominantly from ethnic minority backgrounds, are allegedly subjected to "shocking segregation," according to a senior curator.

It’s almost become a running joke within the National Gallery. Security staff are being treated like second-class citizens.

— Senior curatorDescribing the alleged segregation faced by security staff at the National Gallery.

These guards are reportedly barred from the institution's "hub," a bright and airy recreation space used by the gallery's mainly white employees. Instead, they are confined to a "stifling" basement room that reportedly features broken furniture, ongoing rodent problems, and lacks natural light and air conditioning.

Staff have likened the disparity to the television drama "Upstairs, Downstairs," highlighting the stark contrast in facilities. The curator, who spoke anonymously to The Guardian, described the situation as a "running joke" where security staff are treated like "second-class citizens."

There’s this beautiful hub area. You’ve got all the in-house, largely white staff in there. This has got potentially divisive for the gallery in the sense that the poor facilities in a basement area are used by black and Asian security staff.

— Senior curatorHighlighting the disparity between the staff recreation areas.

While the hub includes a subsidized canteen and a chef, the basement is described as "dingy, dirty and dark," with limited food options. The gallery has cited concerns about overcrowding for restricting hub access, but the curator argues this is unlikely given the limited number of staff on duty at any given time, even during weekends and holidays when few gallery employees are present.

It wasn’t meant for people. It was meant for storage.

— Senior curatorDescribing the basement room used by outsourced security staff.

The PCS union, representing the security staff, believes they are being treated with "absolute contempt." Concerns have also been raised about the gallery potentially compromising the collection's safety by expecting individual guards to monitor up to four rooms simultaneously, a task observers say is impossible, potentially leaving the art vulnerable to incidents like those involving activists in recent years.

So the argument that the hub’s overcrowded is probably pushing it a bit.

— Senior curatorQuestioning the National Gallery's justification for restricting hub access.
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Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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