Coal museum strikers not losing steam

Strikers on the picket line earlier this month (Pic: Wakefield District Unison on Facebook)

Unison members at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield have been on all-out strike for 16 weeks in a dispute over pay. The strike is set to continue until 28 January 2026.

Over 40 workers at the museum have taken to the picket lines week-in, week-out. Among them are former miners who walked out during the 1984-5 strike.

For workers at the museum, this isn’t just a job. It’s about keeping the memory of the mines, and the role they’ve played in workers’ history, alive. 

“Of course the dispute is about money, but it’s also about the future of the museum”, striker Dave told Socialist Worker. 

“When we retired, we started working at the museum to pass the history on. That’s what we do. We take tours down and talk about mining from the Victorians up to the closures in the 1980s.”

Glen added that it’s clear that the bosses don’t value them and that “there seems that there’s money available for anything but a pay rise.

“They want us all to be volunteers. But we are skilled miners, not just tour guides. We’re fitters and electricians, and we keep the mine safe for people to visit. That’s not a minimum wage job.”

Their employer has made a series of pay offers, each one worse than the previous. “The original proposal was for £1 or 5 percent, whichever was greater.

“But the board refused, I’ve never heard of a board doing that before. They came back with 80p or 5 percent. All of this over them trying to stop us getting an extra 20p,” said Glen.

Dave explained that the director of the museum had shown nothing but contempt for the workers. “One time, she was driving into work, and a steward on the picket asked ‘when are you going to negotiate with the union?’ She rolled her window down and shouted ‘never’.”

Dave and Glen said the strikers were not losing steam. “We’ve had lots of support from other union branches, from the local councillors and the public. And Wakefield council voted to stop the funding to the museum to show they stood with us which was great to see,” added Dave.

Wakefield district Unison has called a national demonstration Saturday 6 December assembling outside Wakefield Cathedral at 12.30pm. “This national demo we’re saying the more the merrier. We’ll have anyone who wants to come down and support us,” said Dave.