Senior managers at the National Coal Mining Museum must reveal how much taxpayers’ money they’ve spent on private security guards during the ongoing strike.
More than 40 workers at the museum have been on strike in a dispute over pay since mid-August.
Since the first day of the walkout, private security guards have been hired by the museum. This has been completely unnecessary, and has cost taxpayers over £100,000.
At the beginning of the strike, a local councillor published on social media that the security is costing the museum £1,200 a day*.
UNISON has calculated that museum chief executive Lynn Dunning has spent £102,000 on security during the walkouts.
This is more than ten times the amount of money it would have taken to settle the strike.
Senior figures from the museum have claimed UNISON’s figure is inaccurate. The union says taxpayers have a right to know how much of their money has been wasted and has called on Lynn Dunning to clarify the figure, which she’s failed to do.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Rianne Hooley said: “Hiring security guards to police a picket line is completely unnecessary.
“The people of Wakefield, and taxpayers in general, have a right to know exactly how much of their money has been wasted.
“It’s time for chief executive Lynn Dunning to come clean on her security spending.”
Notes:
– *The £1,200 a day figure was published by a local councillor here.
– The majority of the museum’s funding comes from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport
– **During the museum’s ‘Light Up’ event at the end of November, security guards physically and verbally assaulted members of the picket line. They were joined by two extra people as ‘additional security’, who were dressed in all black with no uniform or Security Industry Authority licence, which is required to work in private security in the UK.
– A video displaying the behaviour, including it being observed by the museum’s chief executive Lynn Dunning, is available here. It was captured on body-worn cameras by members of the picket line, who chose to start wearing them early in the strike due to the behaviour of security. The private security firm withdrew the security guards once they were shown the footage by UNISON.
– The strike began on 20 August and has been extended three times. It’s scheduled to run until the end of January 2026.
One thought on “Mining museum bosses must come clean over public money spent on private security guards”
Comments are closed.