Mining museum workers' strike extended into 2026

Members of Unison at the National Coal Mining Museum have been out on strike since August

A strike by over 40 workers at the National Coal Mining Museum in a dispute over wages is to be extended into the new year, a union has said.

Members of Unison at the museum in Wakefield began their industrial action on 20 August, calling for higher pay.

The decision to continue the strike until 28 January 2026 was blamed by the union on the museum management's "ongoing refusal to improve what's on the table and backtracking on earlier promises".

A spokesperson for the museum, which is a charity, said bosses "remained open to negotiation", but warned the union's "firm red lines and demands had made meaningful compromise and progress impossible".

Unison has said many of its members at the museum earned about £12.60 an hour.

The union said last week that museum managers had recently suggested a £1 an hour rise for fitters and electricians and a 5% pay rise for other staff at the site.

However, for many workers that would work out lower than the 80p an hour increase previously suggested by museum management, according to Unison.

The strike means that underground tours at the museum have been halted

Announcing the extension of the strike into January, Unison regional organiser Rianne Hooley said: "Nobody wants to be standing on a picket line in the depths of winter, but they feel they've no other option.

"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 spokesperson for the museum said craftspeople at the site - such as electricians, fitters and guides with other specialist skills - had been offered "exactly the uplift which Unison demanded".

"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," they said.

"We remain fully open to constructive dialogue with Unison and urge them to negotiate rather than issue demands," the spokesperson added.

Wakefield Council voted in September to withhold funding from the museum until the dispute was resolved, in what it said was an act of solidarity with the workers.

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