Around 5,000 women attended. The main difference between the police operation in Scotland and that in England and Wales has been the absence of any mutual aid and, therefore, the absence of any requirement for day-to-day coordination on the model of the (England and Wales) National Reporting Centre." Margaret Thatcher made a speech where she referred to union leaders as the enemy within. The Miners' Strike of 1984-1985 was an attempt by miners to stop the National Coal Board (NCB) and the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shutting down collieries (mines). "Besides a vigorous policy of bringing prosecutions whenever possible, the police would welcome maximum publicity for acts of violence by pickets and others: public opinion would be outraged by these acts" Home Secretary at Cabinet[27], "the concern felt by chief constables about the BBC 9 o'clock news on Thursday 17 May, which carried an interview with the Home Secretary about intimidation in coal mining areas. Some of the occupants agreed to turn back and those left proceeded to leave the vehicles and sit down on the roadway. The closures meant that 20,000 miners would lose their jobs. Dec. 2 -- Special union conference votes to fight on. The new Conservative government began their privatisation programme by selling off the governments 51% stake in British Petroleum (BP). Protestors have been out of work for six months and the lack of income was starting to take its toll. 12 March Arthur Scargill, president of NUM, unites various strikes into nationwide industrial action, without a ballot. Subscribe to our emails to be the first to hear about new shows and casting announcements. Today I'm going to talk about the miners' strike of 1984-5. Ambulance men issued with riot helmets and shields. Police deny he was hit by a truncheon. Select from premium Miners Strike 1984 of the highest quality. Photograph shows a coal gleaning miner carrying a sack of gleaned coal home during the 1984-85 NUM strike. March 3 -- Special delegate conference votes to end strike. 12 March Miners National Union of Mineworkers ( NUM) President Arthur Scargill unites various strikes into nationwide industrial action, without a ballot [13]. The 1984 miners' strike was the most bitter industrial dispute in British history. The Women Against Pit Closures group held a rally in Barnsley. --Nev - selbert 13:43, 26 March 2017 (UTC) Reply . A year-long strike against pit closures occurred in 1984-1985, and in 1996 the government privatized a greatly reduced mining industry. Miners from those pits that had not voted to strike now joined the strike action. Miners' Strike timeline. The miners went on strike from March 1984 to March 1985. June 18 -- Scargill knocked unconscious in Orgreave violence. Here, historian Dominic Sandbrook revisits the longest and most acrimonious industrial dispute in Britain's modern history: the miners' strike of 1984-85 By Thatcher and the Conservative government began building up coal stocks to prevent shortages in the winter. RMM42H39 - Fitzwilliam Main, Colliery in West Yorshire in the winter of 1985 during the miners strike. 1984 1 March National Coal Board (NCB) announces closure of Cortonwood pit in Yorkshire - miners at the pit walk out6 March Wonderland: A timeline of the 1984/5 Miners' Strike, Wonderland Director announces exciting new staging plans, Video: Writer and Director introduce Wonderland. Your cookie preferences have been saved. Some 136,000 of Britain's 175,000 miners now on strike. Timeline of the 198485 miners' strike 1984 21 February 1984 Miners Official strike starts at Polmaise [12]. When intimidation began on a substantial scale, the police responded by patrolling the pit villages in order to give protection to those who were threatened, and they made it clear that any report of intimidation would be investigated with vigour. ", Cabinet Miners' Dispute. 1911: Revolution in Mexico, . The rise in cheaper oil from the Middle East led to a decline in demand for coal. Local ballots saw a number of areas voting against strike action. The son of a communist miner, he has kept its memory alive at the Shirebrook Miners' Welfare Social Club, founded in 1920. Mr. Hamilton had the opportunity to be tried before a jury. Transcript. Jim Rawson suffered broken bones but survived. The loan was granted on condition that the government made cuts to public spending. Scottish miners joined the action and by 12 March, half Britain's 187,000 miners had downed tools. One cornerstone of the Thatcher government was for far reaching Trade Union reforms, the battle lines where being drawn between the free market economic model and the workforce protection of the Trade Union movement. The government announced plans to close 23 coal mines across the country. What does lockdown lifting look like across the UK? May 30 -- Scargill arrested on Orgreave picket line. The result was a hung parliament and Labour formed a minority government. I cannot see why the hon. A national ballot of NUM members saw strike action over the closures rejected. It has in fact been reported today that a coach has been stopped. Chancellor Denis Healey needed a loan to prop up the failing pound. November A growing number of miners decide to return to work as Christmas looms. The view of Chief Police Officers, who had been consulted, was that civil action in the courts was not in present circumstances likely to make the task of policing the dispute any easier." March 8 -- Union executive backs nationwide strikes. Butlin was speaking in December 1984. The Miners Strike 1984. Timeline. The strike was a last, desperate attempt to thwart Thatcher's pit closure programme. March 1 -- Pressure from regional coalfields to abandon strike. More from National Union of Mineworkers [44], NCB Chairman, Mr MacGregor, repeated that miners convicted of violent offences would not be reinstated[45], Government memo, NCB Chairman, Mr MacGregor, repeated that miners convicted of violent offences would not be reinstated.[46]. June 15 -- Miner killed by truck at Ferrybridge power station. Attorney General[31], "As far as the Scottish Office are aware, the police are employing their available powers fully but prudently; and, in particular, they have taken account of the Written Answer of 16 March in which the Lord Advocate lent his support to the Attorney General's explanation of the nature of the police powers in the picketing context." Police attack miners with rocks, bottles, potatoes studded with nails. Oct. 24 -- Supervisors strike called off. Protestors have been out of work for six months and the lack of income is starting to take its toll. Please refer there for the rationale. You can change your cookie settings at any time. the 1964 Act does not extend to Scotland." In March 1984 more than 187,000 miners came out on strike when the National Coal Board . Locals also played host to miners who came to Lancaster to picket the neighbouring . Opposition Labor Party accuses Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives of intervening directly to defeat miners. [48]", Note: Your feedback will help us make improvements on this site. Sun, 29/04/1984 - 22:00. Over 5,600 stood trial and more than 100 were jailed, although 1,504 were released without charge. There were exceptions, but the generalisation as a whole was, unfortunately, to stand. For more details of these cookies and how to disable them, Professor Robert Gildea FBA examines the 1984-85 miners' strike through the lenses of class, community and family. The Yorkshire branch of the NUM held a ballot which approved strike action in the event of any pit threatened with closure for being unprofitable. The full force of the police, the courts and the media were mobilised to defeat the miners, culminating with the battle of Orgreave on 18 June 1984. Nov. 5 -- Union funds of $3 million seized in Dublin. In the north, only 35% of 1,000 men employed went on strike [2]. Taxi driver David Wilkie was killed. Chief Constable of Strathclyde wondering what attitude to take following a request to appear before a special meeting of the Police and Fire Committee to have clarified police involvement in matters of picketing[25]. Miners Strike 1984 - 1985, Pictured. The High Court in Scotland has fairly recently held that there is no limit to the kind of conduct which may give rise to a charge of breach of the peace." Comment. Wilson called another election to try to gain a majority in the House of Commons. - Ian McGregor referred to pickets as 'bully boys of arthurs army' - police lines augmented by soldiers, taunting strikers and waving wads of banknotes at pickets June 1984 - battle of Orgreave Nov 30 1084 - David Wilkie was driving a miner to work and had a 46lb concrete block dropped on his taxi killing him instantly The NCB closed them one at a time over a period of three years and minimised the effect on miners by transferring some workers to other pits that were still operating. This was particularly felt in the coal industry where the higher rate of the pound increased the price of coal and led to a marked decline in exports. March 17 -- Midlands, Northeast and Northwest miners vote against strike. Attorney General[30], "Industrial Action in the Coal Industry: use of the criminal and civil law. see our cookie policy. The Coal industry was nationalised and placed under the control of the National Coal Board. Feb. 25 -- A record 3,807 miners back in one day. This accords with the Code of Practice in Picketing.[34]". 19. Ministerial Group on Coal minutes[19]. By using this site, you agree we can set and use cookies. 6 March 1984 National Coal Board announces plans to close 20 coal mines, with a loss of 20,000 jobs. Tens of thousands of Britain's miners have stopped work in what looks like becoming a long battle against job losses. August Two miners from Nottinghamshire take the NUM to court over claims that the strike was not official without a ballot. It was built as a pit village. The Thatcher government had prepared against a repeat of the effective 1974 strike by stockpiling coal, converting power station to burn heavy fuel oil and recruiting road hauliers to transport coal. 6 March 1984 - National Coal Board announces plans to close 20 coal mines, with a loss of 20,000 jobs. Ministerial Group on Coal minutes[17]. We have argued that it is necessary in order to secure a victory for the miners and to smash the entire Tory offensive that the MacGregor closure plan is merely one part of. ", Sir Robert Armstrong, Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister[14], Parliamentary Answer from the Attorney General "Picketing is permissible, in terms of criminal law, only if it is peaceful picketing, that is to say, it is carried out for the purpose of peacefully obtaining or communicating information or peacefully persuading another person to work or not to work. A 10-month miners' strike had taken place in South Wales in 1910, followed by a national miners' strike in 1912. . The year-long strike that followed changed the political, economic and social history of Wales forever. 1984. The coal industry had continued to decline and by the end of 1981 there were only 173 mines still in operation. We use cookies to collect anonymous data to help us improve your site browsing Violence on the picket lines becomes more widespread. He succeeded with a majority of just 3 seats in the House of Commons. Tebbit: Miners' strike 'a terrible sore' on politics, 30 years on, Joe Biden vows to fight racial inequality with economic agenda, Trump reverts to promoting unproven drug as coronavirus treatment, Big Boss is watching you workers fear increased monitoring by employers, Devon bus drivers will decide whether to strike over pay, Durham County Council respond to teaching assistants' strike action, UK's top civil servant Sir Mark Sedwill to stand down, Controversial appointment of Brexit aide as National Security Adviser, Scotland records no new virus deaths for third day running, 'UK on a knife edge ahead of further lockdown easing'. July 2 -- Steel union leaders reject call for steel strike as 'completely unacceptable.'. At the CMGC, there was discussion of the policing of the Strike in Scotland: "It was not clear whether the Scottish Chief Constables were prepared to go as far as their English counterparts to prevent pickets from going to the scene of a possible disturbance. "..I suggest that we should go ahead now with setting up a Ministerial Group [the Cabinet Ministerial Group on Coal ("CMGC") in the MISC series to consider all aspects of the situation which may be of concern to Ministers: industrial relations, law and order, power station endurance, the effect on the economy, the scope for mitigating action by the Government, and the handling of the media. The incident caused widespread shock and many thought the action was a step too far. The miners strike officially ended when many areas called for a return to work. Scottish Home and Health Department have written to the Chief Constables of Central, Fife, Lothian and Borders, and Strathclyde enclosing copies of the statement on criminal law on picketing made on Friday 16 March by the Attorney General with the support, as far as Scotland is concerned, of the Lord Advocate[16]. A widely reported clash during the Miners' Strike took place at Orgreavenear Rotherhamon June 181984. It was announced that Cortonwood Colliery would be closed. Residual violence in some mining villages.[42]. That is why the Government and the NCB are isolated on this matter. Read: Calls for inquiry on 30th anniversary of miners' strike. March 16 -- Government dispatches 3,000 extra police to the Midlands. 1992 Further closures were announced by John Major. Photo: John Sturrock/reportdigital.co.uk, Beth Steel, in a commanding Main Stage debut, illuminates corners of a story you think you know but you dont. David Hare, writer of The Judas Kiss, Skylight and Pravda, Brush up on your history and find out more about the 1984/5 Miners Strike which inspired Wonderland with our brief timeline. Joint Declaration fall in the handling of the dispute 10 out of work for six months and the of. 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