A National Museums Liverpool worker has made their feelings very clear as staff continue to strike over an unpaid cost of living payment.
Over 200 staff from National Museums Liverpool (NML) are on strike after not being paid a £1500 cost of living payment they believe they are entitled to.
An anonymous staff member told MerseyNewsLive: “It’s literally labelled a ‘Cost of Living’ payment, it’s meant to aid those who really need it, so being denied it feels like we are being left to the wolves.”
In response to calls for the payment to be made to staff, Laura Pye, Director of NML, insists that NML workers are not eligible for the payment.
Speaking exclusively, Mrs Pye said: “It was never something that was promised to them. It was a payment offered to all civil servants, NML colleagues are not civil servants, so we were not covered by that pay remit.”
Mrs Pye has also stressed the fact that NML workers’ pay has increased at a higher rate than the civil service average over the last five years.
In response to claims that NML are the only museum group yet to offer staff £1500, Mrs Pye said: “Only five museums across the country have made this payment.”
Mrs Pye has pointed the finger at central government for the ongoing pay dispute.
She said: “If national government were willing to give us the additional funds this dispute would have never happened.”
Currently, the strike is set to last until 14th April, with NML museums running on a reduced timetable.
Venues such as the World Museum and the International Slavery Museum are fully closed while the Museum of Liverpool remains open most days.
