National Galleries of Scotland faces staff strike during festival season over 'damaging' changes to working practices
Union members voted in favourof industrial action amid a dispute over changes to working practices for gallery attendants
National Galleries of Scotland could be hit with staff walkouts during the busy Edinburgh festival season after staff voted in favour of striking.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union revealed that 80 per cent of its voting members voted in favour of industrial action amid a dispute over what has been described as “damaging changes” to working practices for gallery attendants. The turnout of the vote of 81 per cent.
The union has argued that gallery staff in the security and visitor experience team have raised multiple concerns over the new minimum staffing level requirements.
There are fears over “serious” health and safety concerns as well as “threats to the quality of the experience for visitors” with frequent room and floor closures.
The union added that National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) failed to consult with PCS about the proposed changes and justified the adjustments to minimum staffing level requirements under the Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform Strategy.
PCS Scotland national officer, Ruby Gibson said: “This ballot result is a clear message to NGS management that our members will not allow damaging changes to be imposed upon them.
“This situation exposes the reality of Ivan McKee’s Public Service Reform strategy for what it is – more cuts to public services with no regard for the workforce.
"PCS will not allow the government’s plans for Public Service Reform to act as a smokescreen for attacks on jobs and conditions.”
"While the government are full of rhetoric about 'consulting the workforce', the reality is that highly paid and unaccountable senior leaders are charging ahead, cutting service delivery with complete disregard for the people who do the actual work.”
Between 2024 and 2025, NGS welcomed a total of 2.63 million visitors through the doors of its venues, including the Scottish National Gallery, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
A spokesperson from the National Galleries of Scotland, said: “Colleagues, visitors and the art in our care remain our top priorities.
“Staffing levels in our Security and Visitor Engagement team have increased by 16 per cent compared to 2023/24 and 2025/26 averages.
“Working practices and operations remain the same under the structure agreed following PCS consultation in 2023.
"We chose not to fill five vacant positions in line with our long standing organisational approach to vacancy management. No one has lost their jobs and service delivery is unaffected.
"Our operational requirements remain dynamic and we will shortly be joined by 52 new colleagues for our summer exhibitions.”