Cuts fear for historic sites

Tower of London

By New Worker correspondent

Mass redundancies and wage cuts are faced as Historic Royal Palaces plans to reopen sites without agreement with PCS, the civil service union that represents workers at the palaces.

Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) manage iconic British landmarks such as the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace and Hillsborough Castle in northern Ireland. Members of PCS, the biggest civil service union in the country, work as heads of departments, Yeoman Warders, and in admissions, security, retail, IT and conservation.

The palaces are currently closed to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic but the grounds of Hampton Court and Hillsborough were reopened on 18th June and there’s plans to extend access to other sites in early July.

As a Charitable Trust the Historic Royal Palaces are heavily dependent on income generated by the paying public and have no government subsidy. The massive loss of income forecasted means that its business model as a charitable trust, dependent on visitor income, is no longer financially viable as visitor numbers are not expected to return to previous levels for at least four years.

In order to resolve its financial predicament the Historic Royal Palaces has rushed to take measures that will have a devastating effect on staff. These include a 25 per cent cut in the wage bill by mass redundancies, a 20 per cent cut in pay for both furloughed staff and staff still currently working and slashing employer pensions contributions

PCS has called for government intervention to save jobs and ensure members are properly paid and able to work safely in their Historic Royal Palaces workplaces. The union

says these sites have not been adequately risk assessed. This means that these workplaces are not safe to work in under the current Covid-19 pandemic.

            The five tests are:

·       No wider return until communities are safe

·       Workplaces must only be for essential work

·       Workplaces must be safe places

·       Staff must be individually assessed

·       Coronavirus outbreaks must be controlled.

The culture and heritage sectors, like many other areas of British life, have been hit by years of austerity. The failure of the government to support PCS members working in the Historic Royal Palaces and allow the destruction of jobs of dedicated staff sets a disturbing precedent for other iconic institutions that are also largely dependent on visitors for the income.