Scotland's gallery workers set to strike over pay

SCOTLAND'S art galleries and museums are set to close over the May Bank Holiday weekend after workers voted in favour of strike action.

Employees at some of the country's top attractions - including the Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (pictured) in Glasgow - are to walk out on May 28 and May 31.

The industrial action is being led by unions GMB, Unison and Unite

balloted members over cuts to overtime and the imposition of a pay freeze.

The company, which is registered as a charity, said it will not know if the next strikes will close sites until the day of the action.

Martin Doran, regional organiser for GMB Scotland, said: "There will be two 24-hour stoppages and, as of Friday this week, there will be an overtime ban in place as well.

"This means no one will be working any additional hours that are requested of them.

"The silence is deafening coming from the senior management team at CSG (Culture and Sport Glasgow). The last set of talks we had was on the morning of the first day of the dispute."

After the next strikes, the unions will discuss their next move, he said.

A spokesman for Culture and Sport Glasgow, said: "Around one-in-seven of our staff voted for strike action and the trade unions are fully aware that the public sector is not immune from the current financial crisis. We have consistently made it clear that our priority is to protect both services and jobs. In order to make the savings necessary to achieve this, we must change the way we work - or be forced to consider job cuts."