Arts Workers Protest Job Cuts at the Tate, National Theatre and Southbank Centre

Arts workers have gathered in protest of recent job cuts outside of The National Theatre in London, The Guardian reports.

This comes after three major arts institutions - the Tate, The National Theatre and the Southbank Centre have announced mass redundancies due to the health crisis.

In addition to protesting the cuts, workers are also campaigning for fair redundancy payouts and preferential rehiring for casual staff.

"We feel like the government has let us down," said Paul Valentine, a visitor experience host at the Southbank Centre and chairman of the Public and Commercial Services union. "Obviously to the public £1.5bn sounds like a lot of money but really that's not going to the people that need it."

Up to 400 people are expected to lose their jobs at both the Southbank Centre and The National Theatre, and more than 300 at the Tate.

Workers from the three organizations marched from The National Theatre to the Southbank Centre this weekend, and staff members, artists and poets gave speeches.

There was also an unveiling of a banner, created by Jeremy Deller in solidarity with the workers.

Read more on The Guardian.

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