“This dispute isn’t just about pay it’s about dignity, respect, and the future of our national institutions. Management continues to award themselves six-figure salaries while offering frontline staff just 2.4%, far below inflation.”
By the PCS Union
PCS members are over halfway through their 2-week strike against chronic low pay at the British Library, support them by using our e-action to call on MPs to demand increased grant in aid funding for the library and stand up for fair treatment
Complete the e-action to send a clear message that British Library workers in London deserve better and we’re with them every step of the way.
PCS members at the library have been out in number every day since their strike started on 27 October. They are demanding an inflation-proof pay rise with restoration, after a second consecutive year of a real-terms pay cut. In a recent survey of British Library members, we found that most struggle each month to make ends meet.
This dispute isn’t just about pay it’s about dignity, respect, and the future of our national institutions. Management continues to award themselves six-figure salaries while offering frontline staff just 2.4%, far below inflation. Workers have shared powerful testimonies of in-work poverty, mental health struggles, and feeling abandoned by those in charge. It’s time to show your support for British Library workers and to demonstrate they are not alone.
How you can show your support
Show solidarity by cancelling tickets you have booked to any events at the British Library and by writing to speakers scheduled to speak at the library during the strike period to ask them to drop out in solidarity with our strikers.
Strikers are on the picket line outside the Midland Road entrance of the British Library (postcode N1C 4BS) from 8am to noon, from Monday to Saturday this week. Go along and show your support for fair pay for culture workers.
- Share messages of solidarity on social media using the hashtag #BritishLibraryOnStrike.
- Complete our e-action to ask MPs to call for increased grant in aid funding for the library.
- Ask your MP to support our Early Day Motion on pay at the library.
- Follow us on social media: X: @BritLibrary; Instagram: BritishLibraryPCS
- Donate to our strike fund so workers can continue to strike with no loss of pay.
- You can follow the PCS on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
- This article was originally published by the PCS on 5 November 2025.
