British unions seek to close top tourist attraction in strike
LONDON. January 14. KAZINFORM A top tourist attraction in central London is set to be hit by industrial action called by a trade union in a dispute over job cuts, it was announced Thursday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said it would call out its members on strike on two days later this month because jobs were being cut.
The National Gallery -- which houses Britain's national collection of paintings including works by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Constable and Renoir among others -- is the flagship British art gallery.
It is currently hosting a record-breaking and sold-out exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings, and is close to the top of attractions for many visitors to London.
The PCS said workers would be called out on strike on Thursday, Jan. 19, for two hours, and again on Saturday, Jan. 28, warning in its website that "more strikes are possible if management don't review staffing levels."
The union said it is taking strike action because the gallery has cut staff in response to budget cuts imposed by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) that is responsible for funding it.
The gallery denies this and a spokeswoman told Xinhua no jobs were being cut and the strike was over changing working practices.
The National Gallery is undergoing a 15-percent cut in its grant from the DCMS over four years, starting last April.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government had set itself the main economic task of reducing the near-record level of government spending debt, estimated at 127 billion pounds (about 194.7 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of last year.
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