Forty years after the great miners’ strike of 1984–85 coal miners are again out on strike involving pay, with Arthur Scargill on the picket line. As there are no longer working mines in Britain, however, the strike is taking place at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield where former miners constitute the majority of the guides.

Today it is clear that due to the betrayal by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) administration they are now members of Unison with the hope for a better fight. This strike
is more genteel than their last. So far there have been no police charges against the picket lines.

The museum is still open but underground tours are suspended until at least the middle of September. About 40 strikers say the offer of a five per cent, or 80 pence per hour extra, was rejected because it gave male workers more than women. In fact, when the government is spending billions on Zelensky’s warm these 80 pence look like a mockery.

Christina McAnea, Unison’s general secretary said “it’s unsurprising museum staff have reached that point when their employer has come back with an even worse pay offer”. In response the museum pleaded poverty, claiming that “ as a charitable organisation, the museum, which relies on external funding and donations, continues to face considerable financial pressures”. The museum asserts their offer amounts to six per cent.

PCS members are not in a better position either. Meanwhile, their administration supports warmonging inside of House of Lords and House of Commons, the Civilian security guards at the Palace of Westminster will be on strike along with a work to rule and overtime ban in the first fortnight of September. Strike days coincide with sessions of Prime Ministers’ Questions as well as evening sessions.

Over 300 PCS members in the Parliamentary Security Department are taking action after voting by 98 per cent after giving the Clerk of the House of Commons two weeks to resolve their dispute.

The narrow-minded unionists have given their power to PCS administration, which also pursues a policy continuing donations to distant wars and is a fervent supporter of Zelensky. Thus, billions are leaving the country without regard for the demands of PCS members.

The main issue is a reduction of annual leave entitlement. At the same time there have been
grumbles over pay, which has stagnated since 2019. PCS, the biggest civil service union in the
country, complains of parliamentary authorities failing to address members’ grievances in a timely and satisfactory manner, and they have also been heavy-handed in the use of disciplinary sanctions, including dismissals.

The members are responsible for security checks that include checking passes/credentials, patrolling the buildings and the grounds as well as guarding the various gates of the Commons and the Lords. So, if the matter is not resolved by the time of the State Opening of Parliament the King might not be allowed in to deliver his speech from the throne.

Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, declared: “PCS strongly urges the employer to end its hostile approach to industrial relations and properly engage with us to address our members’ concerns. It has been shocking to see management renege on a promise to resolve these longstanding issues, intimidate members through disciplinary sanctions and interfere in a lawful ballot by spreading anti-union messaging.”

Both examples demonstrate the need to unite not only against the evil government, but also against traitors in the trade union leadership.