miners’ strike

(1984–5)

   A major industrial action affecting the then nationalised British coal industry. When the National Coal Board (NCB) announced its intention to close 20 uneconomic mines, Arthur Scargill (the President of the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM) argued that the cuts would be the beginning of the end for the mining industry and would have a devastating impact upon miners, their families and mining communities. He urged a robust response from his membership. By contrast, the Thatcher Government backed the NCB programme, for in its view mining could not be indefinitely subsidised. The Prime Minister was determined to be resolute in the face of the miners’ protests, for she had seen the damage inflicted on the Heath Government by NUM action. From the early days of her premiership, she had taken steps to ensure that there were substantial stocks of coal to keep power supplies going and so avoid the likelihood of any repetition of the three-day week which had contributed to the defeat of the Conservatives in February 1974. Industrial action began in Yorkshire and in early March Scargill called a national strike without having previously held a ballot of the membership. This fatally undermined his authority within the industrial and political wings of the labour movement. Miners in Nottinghamshire did not back strike action and eventually broke away to form a more moderate union, although elsewhere support was solid. The official strike was marked by much bitterness, with outbreaks of intimidation and violence on the picket lines. It divided families and mining communities. However, after nearly a year on official strike, the miners were forced to admit defeat and return to work. For the Thatcher Government, victory in the confrontation marked a decisive stage in their determination to weaken union power.