STAFF at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford are going to on strike in a dispute over pay.

Prospect union members in the Science Museum Group (SMG) will stage a 24-hour walkout on Friday, August 30, and a work to rule from August 24-29.

The union said the SMG has failed to come up with an improved offer after imposing a below-inflation pay rise of 1.5% for most staff earlier this year.

Prospect said it was the latest in a series of below-inflation pay rises it maintained had left workers with a 13% real terms pay cut since 2010. Members voted to reject the deal and subsequently voted overwhelmingly for industrial action last month.

Prospect negotiations officer Sharon Brown said: "Our members in SMG love their jobs but they cannot carry on with year after year of real terms pay cuts. The group has left us with no option but to strike.

"I'm sure that most of the million or so people visiting SMG museums this summer will be astounded at how poorly its staff are paid, especially when they see that the director's pay has increased by a third in just four years.

"These are extremely high profile attractions and it is a travesty that they refuse to pay the living wage."

Staff involved in the dispute work at the Science Museum in London, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York, Blythe House in London and the National Collections Centre in Wroughton, Wiltshire.

Prospect said the minimum hourly rate is significantly below the voluntary Real Living Wage of £9 an hour and £10.55 in London.

The union added it was not the intention of members to close the museums as a result of the action.

In a ballot, 79.3% of union members said they were prepared to take part in strike action and 94.8% said they were prepared to take part in action short of a strike.