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 | | Wednesday, 28 November, 2001, 16:24 GMT Scargill joins pit women  Madge Charlesworth has campaigned for 16 years The National Union of Mineworkers' president Arthur Scargill accompanied former women pit canteen workers as they took their fight for equal pay to MPs in London on Wednesday. Thousands of women have been campaigning for decades of back pay because they did not get the same rate as men, and marched outside the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday. The group of 35 women, mostly from Yorkshire, met the industry and energy minister, Brian Wilson, who refused to include Mr Scargill in the talks. The NUM president instead discussed the womens' case with MPs Ronnie Campbell and Dennis Skinner, who represent mining communities in Northumberland and Derbyshire. Thousands owed The women say British Coal should have paid them the same as men, but the DTI has said the NUM was negligent with the claim forms. The claims were made following the Equal Pay Act (1975, amended 1984) which applies to pay where a man and a woman are doing the same work. Madge Charlesworth, 70, from Castleford, West Yorkshire, has been campaigning for her back-pay for 16 years.
She said she was owed �20,000 - �1,000 for every year she worked for British Coal. She said: "I want the DTI to get off their butts and get themselves sorted out and give us the money we're entitled to. "We are not asking for anything more. They have already paid some out so we're entitled to the same." Ms Charlesworth said the money would make life easier for herself and her husband who worked in the mines for 44 years.
Mr Wilson told the group who travelled to London that he was looking for a legal loophole that would enable him to pay them. Jackie Thompson from Rotherham worked in the Maltby pit for 10 years. She said: "Mr Wilson had given us a hint of hope the other week that he'd be offering us a payment today. "We told him we're not going to give up and he said: 'I know'." The women plan to lobby Parliament again when they have contacted all their former colleagues across the UK who they say are entitled to backdated equal pay. "We've made contact with ladies from Coventry, Leicestershire and Sunderland. "We're going to put adverts in papers to contact all the women - there are about 3,000 of us. "We'll be back at Westminster. Arthur Scargill says he'll march with us - he's backing us 100 %." | |   See also: Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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