London Museum Staff Go on Strike in Pay Dispute

Workers, including curators, conservators, and explainers, were due to strike at 9 a.m. at the four London museums.

Staff at some of the country's top tourist attractions like London's Science Museum and the National Railway Museum in York went on strike on Friday in a dispute over pay.

The action involves workers from the Prospect and the Public and Commercial Services unions (PCS).

The PCS said their members, some of whose starting salaries were as low as 11,342 pounds, would receive less than 3 percent for two years under a current offer.

Prospect said the "insulting" deal set aside just 1.5 percent for a cost of living increase in 2007 with only performance-related pay increases for 2008.

"Members are furious and their patience has been exhausted," said Prospect National Secretary Emily Boase.

Workers, including curators, conservators, and explainers, were due to strike at 9 a.m. at the four museums -- the other two are the Swindon science museum and the National Media Museum in Bradford.

The unions had hoped that hundreds of staff would walk out but a spokeswoman for the museums said only about 120 out of 1,000 employees had taken action.

"All the museums are open and there's no disruption," she said. "It's business as usual."

Bosses said their pay offer compared favourably to those in the public sector and that staff received competitive salaries.

The PCS said the strike action was expected to disrupt preparations for a royal visit to the National Railway Museum on Saturday. However the museums' spokeswoman said the trip would go ahead as planned.