STRIKE action may close Scotland’s most popular visitor attraction this afternoon and tomorrow.

The walk-out could hit the National War Museum as well as the National Museum of Scotland, which recently topped a poll as the most visited tourist attraction north of the Border.

A breakdown in talks between museum bosses and members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has led to the threatened walk-out, which is to be followed by a rally at the Scottish Parliament.

The long-running dispute is over the ending of weekend working allowances for staff, with the management accused of being “intransigent” by refusing to reverse the decision, which the union claims is hitting low-paid workers.

“It was only a few weeks ago that the National Museum Scotland topped the poll as the most visited tourist attraction in Scotland, but they have come bottom of the league this week for poor industrial relations,” said Lynn Henderson, PCS Scottish Secretary.

In an attempt to resolve the dispute, union officials met with both NMS management and the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, but later claimed that both management and the minister blamed each other for the cuts.

A museums’ spokeswoman confirmed the National Museum of Scotland and the National War Museum could be closed this afternoon and all day tomorrow because of the dispute but said they would open as normal on Saturday.

“These circumstances are entirely outside of our control and we apologise for the inconvenience caused to our visitors,” said the spokeswoman.

“Like many other public sector organisations, National Museums Scotland has had to make changes in order to manage reduced budgets. These have included reducing staff numbers and introducing a change to some terms and conditions for staff newly appointed.

“Weekend payments are no longer common in the culture and tourism sector across the UK. In January 2011, National Museums Scotland introduced revised contracts for new staff employed to work weekends; these do not include weekend working allowances. We explicitly communicate the terms at key stages of recruitment and on appointment.

“Existing terms and conditions have been preserved for all staff employed prior to 2011.”