Tolpuddle Martyrs tour guides repeat history with pay strike

Tour guides who tell visitors about the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the men who inspired the trade union movement, are repeating history by threatening to strike over pay. The nine Blue Badge guides who give tours of the court and cells in Dorchester, Dorset, where six labourers from the village of Tolpuddle were transported to Australia in 1834 for protesting against poor farm wages, are fighting for higher pay. The guides have rejected West Dorset district council's "pathetic" offer of £30 for an afternoon of tours because it falls short of their demand for £50. Alistair Chisholm, who has been giving tours for 15 years, said he and his colleagues were members of the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides which suggested a rate of around £75 for half a day's work. "The irony of the story we tell is not lost on us and although our families are not starving as the Martyrs' families did, the council's offer is pathetic and mean-spirited given that we live in an area where house prices are massively expensive in comparison to local pay." He added that the guides were particularly angry that the council was proposing to spend up to £15m on new offices when their pay request would cost the authority a "mere" £800 over the July-September tour guide season. West Dorset district council said it subsidised tours of the old crown court and cells by £1,500 because admission charges did not cover costs and it did not believe visitors were willing to pay more. Last year guides were paid £26.65 plus travelling expenses for conducting three tours in an afternoon. The fee has been increased to £30 for two tours, which the council says represents a pay increase of almost 13%. Nick Thornley, the council's community enabling officer, said: "We understand that a number of guides are quite happy with the fee paid by the council and most are very pleased with the very active support given to them by the district council." He added that he hoped that with investment from the National Trust, a higher admission price might be justifiable in the future, which could also allow the guides to have a pay rise. The tours are due to begin in mid-July but if no resolution is reached, the guides may take some small comfort from the fact that their actions will not lead to the martyrs' fate – deportation to Australia.