Gallery assistants stage walkout over job cuts and new rules which could put valuable artworks at risk.
Today assistants at the National Gallery in London have gone on strike in protest against cuts to staffing levels which they believe leave them unable to provide adequate protection to art exhibitions.
Gallery assistants are enraged over new procedures which require them to monitor two rooms instead of one, a new rule which the staff believe puts them under too much pressure, leaving the artworks exposed for damage and theft.
Last year a man attacked Poussin's Adoration of the Golden Calf which was left unattended. The Public and Commercial Services union, which comprises almost 90% of the gallery assistants, claims the incident would have been avoided if there had been a gallery assistant present.
The PCS has called for another two-hour halt next Saturday with a view to stage more protests in February if staffing levels are not reviewed. The National Gallery will try to keep as many rooms open as possible, with priority given to Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan exhibition.
'It's a big, big old building with a lot of very valuable stuff in it and we don't think there's enough people currently being employed to make sure it is being patrolled,' said a member of the PCS.
The National Gallery has been put under pressure to cut costs after the government made a 15% reduction from its budget in 2010.
The general secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka, said: 'Instead of investing in the arts, and the people who look after them, the government has imposed massive spending cuts on our museums and galleries to pay for an economic crisis caused by bankers, and we are now seeing the impact of this on the National Gallery and elsewhere.'
'The change has been made because the National Gallery and others believe this to be a more effective and reliable means of invigilation and it has been implemented with the full approval of the current national security adviser. The security of the collection is of paramount concern to the National Gallery,' said a spokesman for the National Gallery.
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