In the autumn of 2023, a powerful show of solidarity unfolded at University of the Arts London (UAL), where lecturers and cleaners staged back-to-back strikes across ten consecutive days. While the UCU-represented academic staff downed tools in late September, GMB union cleaners followed suit in early October, demanding an end to outsourcing and better working conditions. These coordinated walkouts weren’t isolated acts—they were the latest in a rising tide of cross-sector organising sweeping through the UK’s cultural institutions, where precariously employed workers, from lecturers to cleaners, are refusing invisibility and fighting side by side for dignity, recognition, and lasting change.
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Author: Henry Broome
Phoebe Wagner, Cleaning in Progress (2023) from the group exhibition Repair Redux in Stratford, London (2023) — © Carlo Zambon
Autumn 2023 saw lecturers and cleaners at University of the Arts London (UAL) strike back-to-back for a combined 10 days. Represented by University College Union (UCU), UAL’s teaching staff were o...
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