Open-ended museum strikes begin across Wales

PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, addressed members at a rally outside the National Museum in Cardiff

A series of open-ended strikes have begun at museums across Wales.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) are taking indefinite action in a row over the removal of weekend payments.

The dispute began more than two years ago with action initially taking place at weekends.

National Museum Wales (NMW) said there was no more money to improve the offer and urged the union to accept it.

"We are extremely disappointed that the Public and Commercial Services Union have broken the agreement they signed up to at ACAS by not balloting their members on our offer and by undertaking strike action," the statement said.

NMW has started individual discussions with staff affected by proposals to scrap "premium payments".

As part of a deal, staff are being offered a lump sum equivalent to two years' worth of premium payments to end extra payments for working weekends and bank holidays.

About 300 of the museum's staff receive the payments and 220 are PCS members.

The museum has sites in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Blaenavon, Torfaen, Llanberis in Gwynedd, and Llandysul, Ceredigion.