Question about miners strike

[garlictwist]

I've just watched the channel 4 doc on the miners strikes. Very interesting as I wasn't around at the time and didn't know much about it.

What it didn't explain though was why they were striking in the first place - was it that they wanted more money? Or were the mines being closed?

And was this to do with the three day week and the power cuts?

Its seen as ok now as you can see from some of the responses

Its bullying and harrassment and would have no place in modern society

It may have been the most used fuel for steel/iron working which was in a deep decline by 1980 but the largest source of fuel for the UK was petroleum . With regards to homes , gas was most prevalent.

This question sums up the number the Tories have pulled on organised labour and its value in Britain over the last 40 years. The thing that was considered wrong was crossing the picket lines.

I think for context you need to consider how restricted the 'careers' of working class people were at that time. If you had kids, it was more usual to only have one income when they were small as there was little or no good childcare provision for most families.

Comparatively few went to university. The opportunities to earn good money were in industries with strong unions. I don't know about miners pay but printers earned a bloody fortune. Of course they were going to fight for their jobs.

Re scabs, union power lies entirely with collective decisions and actions. Break that and you are breaking down all point of unions. It was seen as being a traitor.

Excellent series on Radio 4/BBC Sounds -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001vs85?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Coming from a family where both sides (mother and fathers) were coal miners for generations it was brutal. I do not know how my parents kept our home.

“The enemy within”, how that woman tarnished entire communities.

Mining was a disgusting and dangerous job; a lot of men died early or physically were wrecked by it.

However, it paid well. And nothing like it in terms of money ever came these places again. Drugs, welfare dependency and low skill low paying jobs came instead.

@Nowaysunshine

That's the opinion voiced by those who lived off the labour of others. The 'us and them' characterisation of unions was a political tactic employed by Tories from the beginning of the trades union movement. Many studies by European economists have concluded that the failings of British industry in the 70s and 80s were failings of management. You're correct in that the rail workers dispute is a sign we're going backwards - we are. To a time when the government colluded with the media to falsely represent the aims of workers and are happy destroying an industry for political gain.

Those who can't see 9k+ as a good salary should bear in mind that my office job paid me £3k.

I think this point has somewhat been made; im from a working class family. My grandad was blinded working down the mines, my great uncle had a mine shaft fall and break his back and was disabled. His wife worked in a cotton mill.
Both men had to give up work and died far earlier than they should have; she had lungs literally full of cotton.
These people; whole families- scarified their whole health and lives to keep this country running and a single woman thought she knew better.

My family was all mills and mines. None of my generation now live in Scotland or Wales. Not one.

The miners strike was 84-85. Electricity generation was mainly powered by coal until the 90s, making it the most used fuel. Thatcher went in 91.

@Justcallmebebes where did you get your news from? That will affect what you were told. I remember seeing the pictures of the police waving wads of money in front of their miners faces - they were getting paid a fortune in overtime while the miners starved.

Sorry I went searching. Constables were on £6700 in 1985 so probably around £6k in 1984

https://www.hertspastpolicing.org.uk/content/police-history/police_force_and_police_stations/police-pay

Mine were all mines and mills too, my grandad was kept back in a reserved occupation during the war and died young of black lung.

I was in my 30s when this happened. The daughter of a miner And a supporter of unions.

it wasn't that that woman closed the pits that grinds my gears. My dad had told me years ago that if he had had boys (he had two girls) he wouldn't have allowed us to do that health wreaking work.

No, what grinds my gears, is that that woman didn't even try to put any mitigation in place. No 're training for ex miners, no help for our communities. Nothing. She didn't care about our communities. We were, in her mind, collateral damage.

It was a good salary. Deservedly so, for a tough job.

Good working class salaries in stable jobs can be a thing, with strong unions.

Strong unions created strong working class communities.

That's what Thatcher was fighting to destroy.

Did your job have the benefit of fatal and debilitating lung disease and constant risk of death through accident?

@Fangdango yep and a bloody good job she did too 🤬😢.

Unions are so weak now in comparison.

Well said.

Are unions weak or is society different?

Both.

I remember seeing the pictures of the police waving wads of money in front of their miners faces - they were getting paid a fortune in overtime while the miners starved

Then they could’ve gone back to work, couldn’t they?

And the only reason that they didn’t was their own colleagues.

I’m not a massive fan of Thatcher but this thread is very one-sided. She was incredibly popular by the time of the following election, and a lot of it was that the average UK voter was sick of being held to ransom by the unions.

The police were imported from all over the country and paid shedloads of overtime. They taunted the striking miners with the amount they were earning and waved notes under their noses. They were an absolute fucking disgrace.

@garlictwist its really hard to understand the depth of hatred for the “scabs” unless you lived through it. We weren’t a mining family but my dad was a proud Union man and I remember his horror at those crossing the picket lines. Such different times.