National Coal Mining Museum strike to continue into new year

A months-long strike is set to continue into the new year at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield.

More than 40 workers, primarily underground mine guides, rejected a pay offer from the museum last week and agreed to prolong industrial action until the end of January 2026.

The guides have been on continuous strike since August over wages.

Representing the workers, the union Unison said the most recent pay offer from the museum, which proposed a £1-an-hour rise for craftspeople (defined as those with specialist skills such as fitters and electricians) and 5% for other staff, would work out lower for many workers than the 80p-an-hour increase previously suggested.

The regional organiser for Unison Yorkshire and Humberside, Rianne Hooley, said: “Workers are deeply disappointed with the museum management’s unwillingness to pay them fairly.

“Nobody wants to be standing on a picket line in the depths of winter, but they feel they’ve no other option.

“Staff feel undervalued and demoralised. They’d much rather be doing what they love, and that’s keeping the history of coal mining alive by capturing the imaginations of the public through their storytelling and real-life experiences.

“The museum can avoid this disruption by getting back round the table and actually putting forward an improved pay offer. Not one that leaves some workers worse off.”

A statement from the museum said: “The charity has compromised and offered a settlement that would give the craftspeople within the mining team exactly the uplift which Unison have demanded and supports the vision of a staffing structure comparable with other organisations, which Unison have quoted as desirable.

“We are disappointed therefore that our offer has been rejected and that industrial action has been extended until 28 January.

“Our most recent proposal included a £1 per hour increase for museum guides with specialist skills, such as electricians and fitters, and a 5% uplift for the wider team.

“It also committed to Death in Service benefits and a review of the staffing structure over the next 12 months. This offer followed extensive discussions with Unison and was designed to align the museum’s pay structure with, and in some cases exceed, those of comparable organisations, meeting a key request from the union.”

The museum says it does not consider Unison’s pay claim to be “reasonable, equitable or affordable”. It said it remains “fully open to constructive dialogue with Unison and [urges] them to negotiate rather than issue demands”.

Ongoing disputes

Some aspects of the pay negotiations between the museum and the union are in dispute.

The union claims that the museum previously agreed to recommend a higher pay offer to the board of trustees but later rowed back on this.

The museum disputes this, saying in its statement: “We would like to stress that no offer of £1 or 5%, whichever is greater, was ever agreed, by the executive team or the board of trustees. This is a misrepresentation of the pay negotiations by Unison.”

The museum also addressed what it described as “misinformation” about senior management pay and the costs of covering private security during the strike.

It said: “Contrary to the claims of Unison, the charity does not pay any six-figure salaries, and while the strike has led to some additional costs such as security, which is necessary to ensure an enjoyable experience for visitors, these are not at the levels being suggested. We appeal to Unison and others to desist from sharing misinformation.”

The statement added: “Throughout this process, the museum has remained open to negotiation and has made multiple offers, none of which have been accepted. Unfortunately, the union has maintained firm red lines and issued demands, making meaningful compromise and progress impossible.”

Some local bodies have called on the museum to bring an end to the strike.

Unite the Union branch secretary Tanis Belsham-Wray said she had written to a number of museum sector stakeholders, including the culture secretary Lisa Nandy, the Museums Association and the Charity Commission, outlining her concerns about “leadership stringing out a dispute that could be easily resolved at low cost”.

Belsham-Wray called on Nandy to withhold further funding to the museum “until its executive and trustees see sense and settle this ugly and damaging dispute”.

The Labour-run Wakefield Council recently passed a motion to withhold future culture grants from the museum in solidarity with the striking workers. The museum said it had not been given a right to reply in the meeting in which the funding decision was confirmed.