'Divisive' | National Gallery accused of 'two-tier workforce' amid staff segregation claims

The National Gallery has been accused of operating a “two-tier workforce” after outsourced security guards were denied access to staff recreation and catering facilities.

The Guardian reports claims from a senior curator, who says that the predominantly minority ethnic security workforce, who are employed by CIS Security and outsourced to the Trafalgar Square gallery, must instead take breaks in a basement area alleged to be poorly ventilated, affected by rodents and furnished with broken equipment.

The Gallery has rebuffed suggestions that the denial of access is linked to ethnicity, instead citing space constraints as the reason for the separation of facilities.

Employees directly employed by the National Gallery, including curators and marketing staff, can use a bright and spacious area known as the hub, which includes recreation rooms and a heavily subsidised canteen with its own chef.