Strikes to hit National Library of Wales and seven Welsh museums

Workers at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth and at seven Welsh museums will strike for five days next month 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 the 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.

Dedicated

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “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 are set to 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.