New round of strikes to begin at National Museums Liverpool

Workers at National Museums Liverpool (NML) will begin another round of strike action this weekend in an ongoing dispute over a cost-of-living payment.

More than 200 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union will walk out on 30 dates between 4 May and 21 July, including 11 weekends and the May half-term break.

The strike has so far led to gallery closures affecting the Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum, as well as the Walker Gallery, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

The new strike dates will affect a new temporary exhibition, National Treasures: Velazquez in Liverpool at the Walker Art Gallery.

Museum workers have already taken 56 days of action since February this year over the £1,500 cost-of-living bonus secured for the civil service last year, which NML says its staff are not eligible to receive.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our hard-working members at National Museums Liverpool love their jobs but are angry and feel undervalued because NML is the only one of more than 200 employers covered by the civil service pay remit guidance to withhold the £1,500 cost-of-living bonus.”

NML disputes this, saying it is one of 10 national museum services that have not been able to pay the £1,500 on top of the pay awards already agreed. 

Heathcote added: “This dispute can be easily resolved if the employer agrees to pay our members what they are owed. If the employer fails to do that, our members will go back on strike over the next three months.”

NML says that, as an arm's length body, it is not part of the civil service pay remit and the payment does not apply. It says it chose not to freeze pay at a time when there was a pay freeze in the civil service, and has prioritised consolidated payments instead of a one-off payment.

However, the union disagrees with this stance, saying that NML is funded by central government and its workers are part of the civil service pensions scheme. “We’re civil servants when it suits them, and we’re not civil servants when it suits them. The ball’s always in their court,” PCS branch rep Matt Exley told local media recently.

The union says some workers at the institution are living below the poverty line. Those on strike hope their action will draw attention to low pay and wage stagnation across the sector, and the undervaluing of heritage workers.  

In a statement last month, NML director Laura Pye said the strike had been “incredibly upsetting”.

“We know how valuable our museums and galleries are to our local community and to the visitor economy of our city,” said Pye.

“Although we have been able to keep the Museum of Liverpool open, along with some other sites, it’s hard to see our other venues standing empty of people – something we didn’t want to ever happen again after the pandemic. People are at the heart of National Museums Liverpool, whether they are visitors or our incredibly hardworking colleagues across the organisation in all departments and roles, and we so desperately want to get our buildings open again to reunite with colleagues and visitors alike.”

PCS members have rejected what the museum described as its “final offer”, which was conditional on the strike ending before the Easter holidays and consisted of a £750 one-off non-consolidated payment, an increase in annual leave to 30 days plus bank holidays, a commitment to shut its venues on Christmas Eve and a commitment to provide free tea, coffee and milk in all staff rooms.

“Since 17 February we have had several meetings and discussions with PCS around the £1,500 one-off cost-of-living civil service payment, which they believe their members were promised,” said Pye.

“As we have addressed with PCS, NML has never promised this payment. In fact, we were very clear when it was announced by the government that unless an additional grant-in-aid payment was given to us to cover this, we would be unable to pay it.

“National government has also been very clear that the payment was promised to civil servants and because NML colleagues are not civil servants they were not in scope.

“In addition, it has been reported that we are the only employer not to make the one-off £1,500 cost-of-living payment to our colleagues. This is incorrect. Of the 15 national museums services, we are one of 10 that have not been able to pay the £1,500 on top of the pay awards agreed.”

Pye added: “We would like to put on record what NML did promise and has delivered on in terms of pay and conditions since 2019/20 when we started working with PCS and Prospect unions on a new approach:

• All colleagues doing the same job would earn the same amount for that job regardless of length of service – we have delivered this.
• All colleagues would earn the market rate for their role or real living wage (whichever was highest). We also promised to maintain a differential from real living wage colleagues and the next grade of 7.5% – we have delivered this.
• To equalise holiday allowances up to 28 days plus bank holidays – we have delivered this. 
• To continue to pay into the civil service pension scheme for charity colleagues (the employer contribution has been at least 26%), and to work towards a better contribution for trading company colleagues – the latter is still ongoing.

“In delivering all the above, NML has seen average wages increase by 14% since 2019/20 at a cost of an additional £2.4m a year. The extra holiday allowance is costing NML an additional £120,000 a year and pension contributions are set to rise to 29% from the new financial year at an additional cost of around £100,000 a year.

“We firmly believe that this was the right thing for us as an organisation, to support our colleagues over a difficult financial period.”
 
Pye said making the one-off payment, which would cost £750,000 overall, would put increased pressure on a budget “which is already in a difficult place” and take NML below its minimum reserve level.

She added: “I would like to assure our visitors and colleagues that we will continue to meet with PCS to have meaningful conversations about a way forward, but as we have said before, without additional support from national government, there’s very little we can do in addition to what has already been offered.”
 
NML has reached out to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) in an attempt to mediate a solution with PCS.

Pye said: “We are hopeful that they will be able to support us in reaching a solution. In the meantime, I must apologise for the continued closure of the majority of our venues until the strike period is over.”

NML and PCS Union have been contacted for further comment.