We did not stop the privatisation as it was an ideological choice made by the Trustees and the government as part of their austerity programme. But the campaign secured a number of victories for museum workers after 111 days of strike action and massive support from all over the country. A deal was agreed between PCS union and the National Gallery: London Living Wage to be paid, sacked union rep reinstated, guarantee over contracts for existing and new workers agreed. The PCS Culture Group that organised the campaign will continue their work to stop and reverse privatisations in all our museums and galleries.

Join the Campaign to defend our museums and galleries and say no to privatisation at the National Gallery We call for:

• The National Gallery to remain a public service and the privatisation to be halted.

• The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to review the running of the Gallery.

Why is this important?

The National Gallery has decided to privatise up to 400 of its 600 staff including those who look after security of the paintings, deal with the public and requests for information about the collection, complaints, school bookings and more.

This came just a week after Director Nicholas Penny announced his resignation. Ten senior managers at the Gallery have left, been made redundant or dismissed in the last two years. A temporary “Security Consultant” responsible for the privatisation used to work for G4S, the private security firm.

Only last November the Gallery Executive endorsed the view that privatisation could not guarantee quality of service and would not save money. Now they and the Board of Trustees have announced privatisation is the only option.

This petition is initiated by the PCS union (Culture Sector) and so far supported officially by the Peoples' Assembly, the Musicians' Union, Lost Arts, BECTU and SERTUC

How it will be delivered