Only the flagship Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the city-centre based Gallery of Modern Art and the National Trust-run Pollok House will remain open seven days a week.
The council has to find £40m, plus yearly costs, following a decision to bring the salaries of certain council posts in line with others that have a bonus attached. Closure on Mondays will save £178,000 a year and will affect seven museums including the Burrell Collection and the Museum of Transport.
Mark O'Neill, the head of arts and museums at Glasgow, said options had been to cut museums' daily opening hours or reduce staff: 'We asked ourselves what was the least damaging saving we could make.'
He said a choice to lose curators or education staff would have been difficult and would have affected the service to the public. He added that Monday closures 'were less damaging and easily reversible'. All museums will open on bank holidays. It is anticipated that seven front-of-house posts will be affected, but the staff will be redeployed to the new Kelvingrove museum.
O'Neill said: 'This doesn't reflect any decline in the council's commitment to museums.' He added: 'I don't think it's a major issue. We are still free. Compared with most museums in Europe, which charge, and close on Mondays, there are still great museums for tourists to visit.'
The Glasgow equal-pay situation is not an isolated case. All local authorities across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have to adhere to the single status agreement. Each council will have to decide whether that will mean cuts will need to be made in services.
In Edinburgh, the city council has estimated that equal pay compensation will amount to £33m with knock-on costs of £10m a year. The council is to introduce Monday closures for its museums from April 2007.
It has taken almost five years for councils to eliminate unequal pay. David O'Connor, the Glasgow branch secretary of Unison, said: 'In Glasgow's case, it has been fearful of the impact on finances and services. But it wasn't going to go away.'
Meanwhile, five front of house staff at the Gallery of Modern Art have won their unfair dismissal case against their employer Glasgow City Council. The ruling was made in the employees favour because the council failed to allow a formal collective grievance in response to salary changes brought about by the museums service restructure completed in 2003, when more than 100 attendants lost their jobs.
Mark O'Neill said the tribunal had agreed with evidence to show that the restructuring had been a success. He added: '[The case] hasn't had big implications for the way staff feel about the organisation they work for.'
But Unison's David O'Connor said: 'Morale isn't at a peak. Changes in take-home pay and staffing levels have meant people are finding it hard to deliver the same service.'
Felicity Heywood
The council has to find £40m, plus yearly costs, following a decision to bring the salaries of certain council posts in line with others that have a bonus attached. Closure on Mondays will save £178,000 a year and will affect seven museums including the Burrell Collection and the Museum of Transport.
Mark O'Neill, the head of arts and museums at Glasgow, said options had been to cut museums' daily opening hours or reduce staff: 'We asked ourselves what was the least damaging saving we could make.'
He said a choice to lose curators or education staff would have been difficult and would have affected the service to the public. He added that Monday closures 'were less damaging and easily reversible'. All museums will open on bank holidays. It is anticipated that seven front-of-house posts will be affected, but the staff will be redeployed to the new Kelvingrove museum.
O'Neill said: 'This doesn't reflect any decline in the council's commitment to museums.' He added: 'I don't think it's a major issue. We are still free. Compared with most museums in Europe, which charge, and close on Mondays, there are still great museums for tourists to visit.'
The Glasgow equal-pay situation is not an isolated case. All local authorities across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have to adhere to the single status agreement. Each council will have to decide whether that will mean cuts will need to be made in services.
In Edinburgh, the city council has estimated that equal pay compensation will amount to £33m with knock-on costs of £10m a year. The council is to introduce Monday closures for its museums from April 2007.
It has taken almost five years for councils to eliminate unequal pay. David O'Connor, the Glasgow branch secretary of Unison, said: 'In Glasgow's case, it has been fearful of the impact on finances and services. But it wasn't going to go away.'
Meanwhile, five front of house staff at the Gallery of Modern Art have won their unfair dismissal case against their employer Glasgow City Council. The ruling was made in the employees favour because the council failed to allow a formal collective grievance in response to salary changes brought about by the museums service restructure completed in 2003, when more than 100 attendants lost their jobs.
Mark O'Neill said the tribunal had agreed with evidence to show that the restructuring had been a success. He added: '[The case] hasn't had big implications for the way staff feel about the organisation they work for.'
But Unison's David O'Connor said: 'Morale isn't at a peak. Changes in take-home pay and staffing levels have meant people are finding it hard to deliver the same service.'
Felicity Heywood
