The chair of trustees of the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield must step up to help resolve a strike over wages after police were called to disperse a lawful picket line.
More than 40 workers, including mine guides who were part of the year-long miners’ strike four decades ago, have been taking industrial action since the middle of August in a dispute over pay.
During this time, they have held a picket line outside the museum’s main entrance.
But yesterday West Yorkshire Police were called by the museum to remove the picket line from what was claimed to be “museum land”.
That is despite UNISON providing museum management with documents from Wakefield Council showing the picket has been held on public land, says the union.
Officers who attended confirmed to the private security firm employed by the museum that the picket line and actions of striking workers are perfectly legal, says UNISON.
UNISON says the decision to call police for no good reason is the latest in a long line of unprofessional moves made by museum management, demonstrating the priority is to interfere with lawful picketing rather than resolve the strike.
The union is calling for chair of museum trustees Phil Marshall to step up and play his part in getting the dispute resolved, either by getting the chief executive Lynn Dunning to return to negotiations or removing her from the process.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside head of local government Tony Pearson said: “The museum’s move to call the police was completely unnecessary. It shows either a complete ignorance towards a legal entitlement to picket or an effort to intimidate striking staff.
“Either way, it’s completely unacceptable. This dispute can easily be resolved if museum managers return to talks and get an acceptable offer on the table.
“The chair of trustees has the responsibility to make that happen, either by making the chief executive step up or step aside.
“Until then, staff have no option but to remain on the picket line.”
Notes:
– The strike, which began on Wednesday 20 August, was due to finish in mid-September but has been extended until Sunday 12 October.
– UNISON has calculated that the museum will spend almost £50,000 on private security guards and a land train during the strike. The museum has not put forward any evidence to contradict the union’s calculation.
– In March, the National Coal Mining Museum put forward a 5% pay offer for all staff, which was rejected. A second offer was made in June via Acas talks of a £1 per hour uplift for mine guides and 5% for everyone else. UNISON said this had the potential effect of giving a greater pay rise to men (who make up the team of mine guides) than women employed elsewhere at the museum.
– UNISON suggested 5% or £1 per hour for all staff, whichever is greater, which the museum’s management said would be put forward as a pay rise suggestion to the board of trustees with a recommendation for acceptance. That was withdrawn 11 days later.
– In a meeting via ACAS less than a week before the strike was due to start, museum management made an offer of 80p an hour or 5% for all workers, whichever is the greater, despite a previous pledge to recommend the museum’s board of trustees accept £1 an hour or 5%.
– The national minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over in the UK is £12.21, as of 1 April 2025. Mine guides typically earn around £12.86 an hour, and many staff are on £12.60 per hour.
– UNISON says the three highest paid managers at the museum are on a combined salary of around £250k. The pay gap between the highest paid employee and the lowest is thought to be more than £120k.
– The museum has made an operating surplus of more than half a million pounds (£596,659). It has also been in surplus for the preceding four financial years. The museum has £10 million in reserves. UNISON believes the £1 per hour or 5% option would only add approximately £150k to the existing pay bill, still leaving the museum with an operating surplus of more than £400k.
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