Windsor Castle staff back industrial action

Staff at Windsor Castle have voted to take industrial action in a dispute over pay and are set to refuse to carry out various duties, including leading tours of the Queen's official residence.

The support for action short of a strike is embarrassing for the British Royal Family, which enjoys a lavish lifestyle and receives close to £300m a year in public subsidy.

A ballot by the Public and Commercial Services union of its 76 members among the 108 wardens at Windsor backed action with a 84 per cent vote in favour on a turnout of 82 per cent.

The decision to ballot came after five years of pay restraint, enforced by the Treasury on the Royal Household, which involved a two-year pay freeze followed by three years of 1 per cent annual pay rises.

This has left the workers paid below the UK living wage, with new recruits starting on £14,400 a year for a 36-hour week, equivalent to £7.69 an hour. The current living wage is £7.85, rising to £9.15 in London.

Windsor Castle is just 20 miles from central London, in one of the most affluent areas of the UK.

The wardens are employed by the Royal Collection Trust, which is the only part of the Royal Household that has no recourse to public subsidy. It cares for thousands of pieces of artwork and other artefacts collected by British monarchs over the centuries.

It also manages the official residences of the Queen and the official London residence of the Prince of Wales, who is chairman of the trust.

According to the RCT's annual report, income from admissions and shop sales at Windsor Castle has surged almost 50 per cent during the past five years to just over £20m, while annual visitor numbers have jumped 26 per cent to just under 1.3m.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, said staff should be "properly rewarded for their commitment" adding: "These loyal workers are the public face of Windsor Castle and with this vote their message to their employer is loud and clear."

The RCT said in a statement that it was "disappointed" with the outcome of the ballot but that it would have no effect on services for visitors to the castle. It said it had been informed by some of the wardens that they would no longer participate in various activities, including providing first aid, interpreting services and tours.

The RCT added: "These activities have never been compulsory; it has always been the choice of the individual as to whether they take part."

It said it had put an offer to the PCS and other unions to expand the salary scale for a warden, starting at the regional living wage of £14,695 for new joiners.

The PCS said the two sides were holding talks to try to reach an "amicable solution" with more discussions scheduled for Thursday.

Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and was originally built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century as part of a defensive ring of fortresses around London. All of them were designed to be no more than a day's march from each other and from the city for ease of reinforcement.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation