PCS union members from Tate Enterprises, the gallery group’s commercial wing, staged a protest outside the Tate Modern in central London today against restructuring plans which could lead to redundancies across the company.

The gallery was holding its press preview before its reopening, along with the Tate’s other sites across the country, on Monday.

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Protesters greeted those arriving with signs demanding that the cost of the coronavirus crisis is not laid at workers’ feet. 

The workers are also standing in solidarity with those at other threatened cultural institutions, such as the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre.

Tate Enterprises, which operates retail, catering and publishing services for the gallery group, is preparing to axe hundreds of employees this summer.

PCS has urged Tate to halt the job losses, which it warns will affect the most diverse and poorest-paid wing of the galleries’ workforce, and called for the government’s culture bailout fund to be used to save the roles. 

It is calling for an investment of just 10 per cent of the Tate’s expected £7 million bailout to save the hundreds of jobs.

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A consultation on strike action is also under way until August 6.

The PCS Tate United campaign has won support from MPs including Labour’s John McDonnell, who tweeted this week: “It cannot be right that the very people who will keep us safe when visiting art galleries like the Tate are treated so unfairly.”

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The protest will be followed with another outside the gallery, at its public reopening on Monday.

Those unable to attend the socially distanced action are encouraged to send messages of support to culturesector@pcs.org.uk