Glasgow museums shut amid staff strikes

Museums in Glasgow are closed this week due to industrial action taken by staff over plans to cut jobs.

Members of Unison working in Glasgow museums and collections are taking part in five days of strikes, ending on Saturday (28 October), impacting flagship institutions, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.

Unison says that Glasgow Life, an arm's-length organisation that runs the city's art, leisure and culture sector on behalf of the council, proposes 38 job cuts in specialist roles, including gallery curators and conservators.

The union has warned the cuts to conservators could result in a "high-profile accident" to items in the £1.4bn Glasgow Museum collection. "Collections do not look after themselves," a union spokesperson said.

"Deep cleaning of display venues by specialist conservation staff will greatly reduce or completely disappear. World-class textiles at the Burrell Collection, taxidermy specimens at Kelvingrove and other vulnerable organic objects will be at particular risk of pest damage without regular, vigilant cleaning by highly-trained specialists."

Defending the cuts, Glasgow Life said it had to make £7.1m of savings after cuts to its budget from Glasgow City Council which is grappling with a £50m deficit.

Glasgow Life said: “We recognise how valued our museums and collections are to Glasgow’s communities and the city’s international profile, and we understand the concern any changes may cause.

"Wherever possible, we have identified ways of making savings by reducing, rather than losing Glasgow Life services programmes and events; retaining the potential to rebuild them in the future."

"However, we have been saying for some time now that the savings we are making this year add up to around 9% of our annual service fee from the Council and ensure none of our facilities will have to close."