V&A faces living wage demands ahead of Stratford museum opening

Campaigners are demanding the Victoria and Albert Museum become a living wage employer as its new V&A East site prepares to open in Stratford, east London. An open letter coordinated by Organise and Citizens UK has gathered over 21,000 signatures calling for all workers at V&A museums to receive £14.80 per hour, the London living wage. While the V&A complies with legal minimum wage requirements of £12.71 per hour, campaigners argue some lowest-paid staff and contractors don't receive the living wage. The letter is addressed to V&A director Sir Tristram Hunt and other senior officials, stating publicly funded institutions should pay all workers fairly. V&A East opens Saturday with exhibitions featuring fabrics, photographs, and black British music, joining other V&A sites in South Kensington, Bethnal Green, and Dundee. Many other cultural institutions including the National Gallery, National Theatre, Tate, and Imperial War Museum are accredited living wage employers, though V&A's London sites lack this accreditation while V&A Dundee has it. Roxy Khan-Williams of Organise said taxpayers expect fair treatment of workers, while Frankie Webster of Citizens UK emphasized the living wage provides dignity and decent living standards. The V&A, founded in 1852 with a mission to promote art and design for all, has hosted recent exhibitions about Taylor Swift and Naomi Campbell, and displayed photographs from Sir Elton John and David Furnish's collection.