Strikes to hit Welsh National Library and Museums
Workers at the Library in Aberystwyth and at seven museums will strike for five days in August over their employers’ failure to pay a £1,500 cost-of-living payment.
Museums Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru) and the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru) are arm’s length bodies of the Welsh Government. Following the agreement by the Welsh Government to make a £1,500 cost-of-living payment to all of its staff, the Director of Corporate Services wrote to Welsh arms-length bodies asking them to follow suit. Museums Wales and the National Library of Wales have so far refused to commit to making the payment.
Nearly 300 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and at the National Museum of Wales’ seven sites will strike for five days, from 7 to 11 August 2023. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka says:
“There's nothing about the cost-of-living crisis that means it doesn't affect all our members. And there's nothing about these members that means they aren’t as dedicated to their jobs as every other civil servant. So there’s nothing fair about their employer’s decision to withhold their payment.
“We commend the Welsh Government for digging deep and recommending the payment. And we regret that we are now forced to take strike action. So, we urge both Museums Wales and the National Library of Wales to recognise the immense value of their hard-working staff. They must do as they’ve been asked and fall into line.”
The seven museums where members will strike are the Big Pit Mining Museum in Blaenavon, the National Museum in Cardiff, the Museum of Welsh Life in St Fagan’s, the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, the National Wool Museum in Llandysul, the Roman Legionary Museum in Caerleon and the Welsh Slate Museum in Llanberis.
PCS’ previous targeted strike action and national strikes led to the UK and Welsh Government making an improved pay offer which included payment of the £1,500 lump sum and an increase in the pay remit figure. Threats of strikes at the British Museum and Care Quality Commission have recently overturned those employers’ decisions to with-hold the £1,500 sum.
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