Durham Miners’ Association (DMA)
has issued a special appeal to everyone who believes that the Durham Miners’
Gala should live on.
The gala has been held in Durham
City in July since 1871 and last year it attracted over 150,000 people, despite
the area’s last colliery closing over two decades ago. With no working miners the DMA has
received no contributions since 1993 and yet still continues to represent at
industrial tribunals those miners made unwell by harsh working conditions.
Now the DMA has been left with a
£2.2 million bill after losing a lengthy court battle on behalf of former
miners suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee. No one denies that the
disease was contracted as a result of work but the case was lost after the
judge refused to allow it to progress because it was outside a three-year time
limit for claims.
An appeal against the ruling was
lost and the final legal bill is a hefty one. This places the future of the
gala in doubt and the DMA is seeking support to cover the £60,000 annual costs
for what is currently the biggest union event in the country.
Friends of the Durham Miners’ Gala
was launched last year and asks people to make a minimum donation of £2 a month
or £24 a year. Those who do so receive a glossy magazine packed with Gala
photographs. More importantly they will be helping to secure the future of this
vital event in the working class and labour movement calendar.
For more information go to:- www.durhamminers.org
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