Museums in Scotland in Dispute

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17 April 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) at National Museums Scotland are taking further strike action in their long running pay dispute with management.

The union is in dispute on the thorny issue of the withdrawal of a weekend working allowance and took action for Thursday, 16 and Friday, 17 April. It argued that staff employed since 1 January 2011 do not get a weekend working allowance paid to compensate for having to work anti-social hours that can entail some members are effectively paid 20% less than their colleagues for doing the same job.

Previous strikes have occurred on Boxing Day 2013 and 2014 and comes after talks broke down this week.

In a statement on the latest strike action, National Museums Scotland stated: ‘National Museums Scotland supports public sector pay policy and delivers the Scottish Living Wage for all its employees. Over recent years, including the period when a public sector pay freeze was in place for the majority of staff, we have differentially increased pay levels for our lowest paid staff.’

Financial constraints

The statement acknowledged that it had introduced the change to weekend working against a background of financial constraints imposed on it that had led to reduction in staffing levels. Management contend that ‘weekend payments are no longer common in the culture and tourism sector across the UK. In January 2011, National Museums Scotland introduced revised contracts for new staff [that] are employed to work weekends; these new contracts do not include weekend working allowances. We explicitly communicate the terms at key stages of recruitment and on appointment.’

Strong resolve

The PCS union has been scathing in its view of what it sees as an anomaly affecting its members. "It is interesting that Scottish ministers approve £7 million to pay a bonus to prison officers but turn a blind eye to the lowest paid workers being stripped of payments for weekend working,” declared Lynn Henderson, Scottish Secretary, PCS. “Our members are now forced to take strike action again and have indicated that their resolve remains strong.”

The Museums will open as normal on Saturday 18 April 2015.

Picture:    National Museums Scotland have had the latest dispute between the management and PCS union over weekend allowances for some of its members.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 17 April 2015

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