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| National Museum of Scotland staff take strike action | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Staff at the National Museums of Scotland have begun seven days of strike action. | |
| The move is part of a union campaign, now in its 18th month, over the removal of a weekend allowance from new members of staff. | The move is part of a union campaign, now in its 18th month, over the removal of a weekend allowance from new members of staff. |
| The action comes just as the city is at its busiest for the Edinburgh Festival. | The action comes just as the city is at its busiest for the Edinburgh Festival. |
| The Public and Commercial Services union said about 120 members were on strike following the collapse of talks with National Museums Scotland (NMS). | |
| The action was causing disruption to both the National Museum of Scotland and the National War Museum. | |
| Union officials said the weekend pay changes had created two rates for staff; those who get the allowance because they were employed before 2011, and those who do not. | |
| Officials said withdrawal of the allowance could reduce an individual's pay by between £2,000 and £3,000. | |
| Fair pay | |
| The National Museum was the most visited free attraction in the country last year with more than 1.6 million visitors and was also the most visited museum outside London. | |
| Alan Brown, industrial officer for PCS Scotland said: "This has been an 18-month long dispute now and essentially it's about fair pay. | |
| "If someone was employed by the National Museum of Scotland in December 2010 and worked weekends then they earn between £2,000 and £3,000 more than a colleague working beside them if they joined in January 2011 so it's wrong that this is the case. | |
| "We've been taking action to get both the National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish government to accept responsibility for this and do something about it and to end this two-tier workforce that exists. | |
| "Industrial action that has been taken over the last 18 months has always meant that the museum has closed. | |
| "It's regrettable and it's not something that we want to do but the simple message that we have for management and the Scottish government is that it's in their hands and I'll be on the picket line if they want to talk to me." | |
| A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "This strike is deeply regrettable. All operational matters are for the board of trustees of National Museums Scotland, and we continue to actively encourage the National Museums and trade unions to continue discussions facilitated by ACAS to seek a resolution. | |
| "NMS is compliant with Scottish government pay policy including delivering at least the Scottish living wage for all its employees. | |
| "The Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs has been actively engaged since pay issues were raised by the trade unions. | |
| "She has encouraged both sides to engage in a more productive working relationship with a view to addressing and resolving these pay-related issues as soon as possible." | |
| A two-day strike over the issue closed the National Museum of Scotland and the National War Museum in April. |