CULTURE unions took their campaign to reverse sectoral budget cuts in Wales to the Senedd today as they lobbied the Welsh government.

The PCS and Prospect unions represent members at the National Museum for Wales, the National Library and the heritage body the Royal Commission.

The unions are calling on the Welsh government to increase spending on the institutions instead of cutting their funding by up to 20 per cent.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans was quizzed by the Star about the cuts during a press conference on the Welsh government’s budget.

“This has been a difficult budget and this is one of the tough choices we have had to make,” she said.

National Library of Wales PCS branch secretary Jeff Smith said: “We are very concerned at the cuts to the library and whether it can carry out its services properly.”

Mr Smith said there was a real threat to jobs and warned that the union would ballot for strike action if there are compulsory redundancies.

“Redundancies are a red line for the PCS [which] would ballot for strike action if necessary,” Mr Smith said.

He explained that 50 jobs are at risk this financial year and a further 25 the next as the library tried to plug its budget deficit.

Responding to the minister’s comments about budget cuts, Mr Smith was emphatic, saying that “£4.7 million is what we are asking for from the Welsh government.”

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Following a decade of underfunding, the culture sector in Wales has been hit particularly hard by cuts in the draft budget.

“We’ve made it clear that we want to engage with the museum and the library to help mitigate the impact of these cuts, but we will resist any compulsory job losses.”