10 facts about the miners' strike

Following the continuation of coal production after the strikes, MacGregor closed 20 pits. How Thatcher broke the miners' strike but at what cost? In the media, the striking miners, working miners and the police were cast as little armies sweeping backwards and forwards across the countryside. There is nothing quite like a cosy night in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and your favourite Christmas film, and the team here at Pearson Fuels want to ensure that you have everything you need to make the most out of your fuel this winter. Compared to todays standards of production, the UKs coal production throughout the 1700s was considerably low with an annual coal output of under [], Coal is a fossil fuel which means that it was formed from the geological remains of living organisms. What coal is made of Coal is made up of several elements. Perhaps the Orgreave inquiry could run in parallel with one into events at Saltleyin 1972. In Yorkshire, the mere mention of Baroness Thatcher's name is often likely to lead quickly to talk of the 1984-5 miners' strike. Only three working collieries remain in the UK today. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. The third difference was the Thatcher factor. From the onset of the Industrial Revolution, working men and women have been withholding their labour as a means of bargaining for better pay and conditions. As a result, the UK government has been searching for feasible replacements for several years in preparation for this inevitability. That's right. And as summer approached, a strike started among West End tailors for better piece rates. Who was in power for the 1972 UK Miners' Strike? Coal was a profit-losing business in a country increasingly turning towards a services-led economy. Posted on . All Rights Reserved. Amid the crisis, on June 28 Pres. Mining had provided generations with a steady income, homes for life and a strong sense of belonging. 10 facts about the UK miners' strike. $0.00. Another peculiar thing about coal miners is that they spend two hours getting to their workstations in the tunnels. The industry relied heavily on government subsidies. From an economic and ecological point of view, the answer is yes. In 1971, Heath introduced the Industrial Relations Act - what did this entail? McGregor's approach to the mining industry was the same as it had been towards steel - close unprofitable pits and drastically reduce the workforce. In 1980, Secretary of State of Industry Sir Keith Joseph appointed a Scottish-American economist Ian MacGregor as head of the nationalised steel industry, British Steel. This figure was said to be closer to 70 according to Scargill, however, the government denied this claim many times. During the Houghton County copper strike in 1913 the National Guard was called into action in the early stages to maintain peace. McGregor was a Scottish-American metallurgist who had already streamlined Britains nationalized steel industry, stripping it of 95,000 jobs, closing down plants and bringing British Steel from making an annual loss of 1.6 billion to near profit. and demonstrated his inability to recognise the country's troubles. Mrs Howells says people who she had known for years then started ignoring her in the street, while some were shopping 12 miles from home to avoid meeting someone from the "wrong side" in the supermarket aisles. When another miners' strike began in 1974, Mr Heath called a snap general election hoping to rally public support against the miners. The NUM hadnt run a national ballot of its members to approve the strike action. SAVE 50% when you subscribe today PLUS free access to HistoryExtra.com, Save 70% on the shop price when you subscribe today - Get 13 issues for just $49.99 + FREE access to HistoryExtra.com, Your guide to the miners strike of 198485, The 1888 Matchgirls strike: how a group of East End women changed British labour history. Unemployment rocketed to 50%. In fact, firewood is considered the oldest fuel on the market because it was readily [], Although many properties in the UK still have a traditional open fireplace, many homeowners are choosing to opt for a stove appliance. Although the miners' strike was considered unsuccessful in terms of its overall aim, it showed the government that the working class wasn't prepared to suffer under austerity. The miner went on strike in 1984 in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. When a walkout at Cortonwood Colliery in South Yorkshire occurred on the 6th of March 1984, the Yorkshire branch of the NUM sanctioned a strike across the county. This meant that Thatcher was essentially forcing the mining families to survive on next to nothing in order to force them to return to work. On 6th March 1984, the NCB planned to reduce Britain's coal production by 4 million tonnes and put around 20,000 mining jobs at risk. The changing landscape of the UKs energy sector meant that soon many collieries would be obsolete. Mrs Howells went to work in a factory and now spends much of her time organising community events for the elderly women of Ollerton after the closure of the village's miners' welfare club left them with nowhere to meet and socialise. The fact that he had not called for a national ballot first would soon come back to haunt him. With the news of her death at the age of 87, emotions remain high . This time to protest against the Thatcher government's plan to close 20 pits. The origins of the strike lay in the gradual rundown of the British coal industry, with the workforce falling from a peak of more than 1 million between the world wars to barely 200,000 at the start of the 1980s. Enter Rocker, who had spent years trying to entice the Jewish garment workers of . The impact of pit closures upon communities is so immediate and devastating . 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The government was offering only 5% to employees of nationalised industries, so these industrial unions also began to protest. After 362 days, many strikers returned to work disheartened at the lack of progress made by a union that, for many, had started the strike against their own best interests. Furthermore, police officers were drafted in from outside the striking counties, so law enforcement was unsympathetic to the strikers. The conflicts witnessed between police and picketers were very different from the 1972 and 1974 strikes. As these towns and villages were often built solely around employment in the mine, closures meant mass redundancy in an area with little-to-no other employment opportunities. Get FREE access to HistoryExtra.com. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) called the strike to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. 5 West Midlands Police in 1984 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Day_147_-_West_Midlands_Police_-_Miner%27s_strikes_-_1984_(14495625275).jpg) by West Midlands Police (https://www.flickr.com/people/61718807@N07) licensed by CC BY SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). The Public Administration sector, Education sector and the Transport, Storage, Information and Communication sector have seen the most working days lost to strikes per 1,000 employees since 2006. Arthur or Joe?Davie LaingEdinburgh, Join the debate email guardian.letters@theguardian.com, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Scargill had a choice: lead them, or get out. "Even now people ignore me if I say hello," says Yvonne Woodhead, 35 years since her husband decided to join miners across the UK in going on strike. 1976: Wilson unexpectedly resigned as prime minister and was replaced by James Callaghan. Most Nottinghamshire miners refused to strike, as did smaller groups of miners elsewhere. 5. After subsequent government cuts, the mining community began to protest their treatment throughout the 1970s. The miners struck for four weeks, and the East End docks were brought to a halt for two months. NUM President Arthur Scargill called a nationwide strike but controversially did not hold a national ballot, so not all miners supported the strike. What was one of the defining violent events of the 1984 Miners' Strike? In 1971, Joe Gormley, president of the NUM, demanded a 43% wage increase for coal miners to counter the Conservative government's offer of a 7-8% increase. The violence was filmed and came to be a horrific image in the memory of the strike. If you want to know more about coal, such as its history and uses, check out our blog below. I cant comment on the veracity or otherwise of the 43% rise for miners, but at the time a miners take-home pay was about 20 a week, for doing what was considered the most dangerous job in Britain, an extra 8 (less tax) didnt seem outrageous to me. During this time gold was discovered in California. [CDATA[// >