National Museum Easter strike suspended

An Easter holiday strike at the National Museum in Edinburgh has been suspended.

Published 24th Mar 2016

An Easter holiday strike at the National Museum in Edinburgh has been suspended.

The planned strike by staff is the latest in a long-running dispute over weekend pay.

Following negotiations between the National Museums Scotland (NMS) and the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, the action was called off on Thursday and the museum will be open as normal over the Easter weekend.

The suspended strike was to be followed by four more weekend strikes.

New talks are due to take place early next week at which a new offer from NMS is expected.

PCS wants the museum's management to reintroduce weekend working allowances for all staff.

It says a ''two-tier workforce'' sees long-serving workers earning an extra allowance for working weekends which is not applied to the newer and lowest-paid staff.

PCS Scottish secretary Lynn Henderson said: Following consultation with our members in the National Museum Scotland about the potential for a new meaningful offer from the employer, we have suspended our action this weekend.''

An NMS spokeswoman said: Both parties have agreed to resume joint discussions after the Easter break period with a view to reaching a permanent resolution to the dispute.''