Historic royal palaces workers to strike over pension changes

STAFF at the Tower of London and historic royal palaces, including Hampton Court and Kensington, are to stage a pre-Christmas strike in a row over pensions.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) employed by Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) will walk out on December 21.

The workers voted 9-1 in favour of strikes in a 72 per cent turnout.

The union said the charity planned to move staff to a defined contribution pension scheme which would leave them “significantly worse off ” in retirement.

PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: “The unwarranted attack on our members’ pensions has forced them to vote for strike action.

“Our members are not paid a king’s ransom and the pension is one of the things that encourages people to stay in the job and deliver a first class service to the public.

“People who treasure these historic buildings in London should be left in no doubt that any disruption caused due to strike action will be solely down to HRP’s intransigence in not paying our members a decent pension.”

Members of the GMB union at the charity are also being balloted for industrial action in the same dispute.

Staff at the Tower of London will strike on December 21 over proposed pension changes