MP urges mining museum to resume talks over strike

Museum workers voted for strike action after claims a promised pay rise was pulled

An MP has urged the trustees of the National Coal Mining Museum to "intervene urgently" to reinstate negotiations with staff who have gone on strike in a pay dispute.

Members of Unison at the museum in Wakefield, many of whom, the union said, earned about £12.60 an hour, began a four-week strike in August calling for higher pay.

The strike's end date was extended to 12 October after Unison said the museum's chief executive had refused to return to pay talks.

Philip Marshall, chair of trustees, said the museum was "open to constructive dialogue with Unison to reach a resolution that supports both staff and long-term sustainability".

The workers on strike are mostly guides leading underground tours at the site and some of them were involved in the year-long miners' strike of 1984-1985, Unison said.

The union said less than a week before the walkout, the museum offered a pay rise of 5%, or 80p more per hour, whichever was higher, despite a previous pledge to recommend 5% or £1 an hour.

However, Mr Marshall previously said no such offer was "ever agreed" and that it "did not consider Unison's pay claim to be reasonable or affordable in the current economic environment".

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

On Monday, Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, tabled an early day motion in support of the striking workers.

In it, he called on Parliament to "urge the trustees of the National Coal Mining Museum to intervene urgently to reinstate negotiations".

It also "applauds the workforce for insisting on a settlement which secures gender equality" and "acknowledges the important role the museum plays in honouring the memory and legacy of generations of miners in West Yorkshire and beyond".

Rianne Hooley, regional organiser for Unison Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "A return to talks is now a matter of urgency so this pay dispute can be resolved.

"The workers simply want to be paid fairly so they can get back to the jobs they love, keeping the area's coal mining heritage alive for future generations."

The museum said trustees were "committed to supporting the executive team in resolving the dispute swiftly".

It said it encouraged Unison to recommend its offer of 5%, or 80p per hour, to members "so we can work together towards a resolution."

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