National Museum Wales strikes continue

Picket at the Swansea Waterfront Museum, photo by Kate Jones (Click to enlarge)

PCS members working for National Museum Wales are continuing their series of strike action at sites across the country this week with defiant picket lines at several museums including the National Museum in Cardiff, St Fagans National History Museum, the National Wool Museum at Drefach Felindre, the Welsh Slate Museum in Llanberis and Swansea's National Waterfront Museum.

The on-going strike action is in response to plans by management to remove premium payments for staff working at weekends, who are already some of the lowest paid!

At Swansea's National Waterfront Museum picket line there was overwhelming sympathy and support from tourists who had turned up to find the museum closed.

Hannah Lawson, the PCS union rep at the museum, said her members were determined to retain their weekend premium and protect their terms and conditions.

PCS museum workers have been travelling around Wales to different sites on strike days to give their support to pickets, highlighting the support and solidarity that exists amongst National Museum Wales staff.

The picket line at the Big Pit Museum in Blaenavon on 22 August should also prove to be very effective and solid considering most of the staff are ex-miners!

Alec Thraves

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