A STRIKE will shut the National Coal Mining Museum for most of the bank holiday weekend.

The museum near Grange Moor will be closed on Sunday and Monday as 50 staff strike in a pay dispute.

They voted for a strike after their union, Unison, asked for what it said was a 6% pay rise but was offered 2.5%.

Unison branch secretary Linda Bratley said: “As late as Tuesday we had a meeting and if we had been offered something worthwhile we might have considered it. But the employers weren’t prepared to move at all.”

The museum said Unison’s demands amounted to an 11.45% pay rise, which it could not meet.

A spokeswoman said: “The museum has tried hard to avert the strike by making changes to the overall pay, terms and conditions package. But this does not seem to have been sufficient to cause the strike to be called off.

“This puts at risk a lot of hard work by the museum for its visitors over the bank holiday.

“The museum is surprised that Unison has moved so swiftly to strike action when it also received backing from its membership for action short of a strike.

“If it really is committed to the future of the museum as a major visitor attraction then we are surprised that strikes are seen as a first, not a last resort.”

Action is being taken across many museums and galleries as part of an effort in the public sector to challenge Government pay policy.

The museum gave staff a 2% pay increase before the strike was announced and has agreed to at least 25 days annual leave.

It is only the second time in the last 20 years that the museum has been hit by action.

The museum spokeswoman added: “We believe action will be detrimental to the reputation of the museum, will affect the enjoyment and understanding of our facilities and exhibits by our thousands of visitors with protracted action actually costing employees money in the long run.”

She said the museum depended on grants from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for its running costs.

She went on: “The museum has a legal agreement with the department in relation to its grant which states that the trustees must take into account any guidelines issued by the department.

“If they do not the department can withhold all or part of the £2.73m grant.

“This means that the museum is not at liberty to set its own wages.

“While the trustees of the museum are very sympathetic to the effects on staff of the recent increases in the cost of living they are not prepared to jeopardise the future of the museum by risking the loss of the department grant.”