The Miner's Strike - 25 years ago yesterday..

Stuart · 12-03-2009, 11:34

Can't find a thread about this, and bearing in mind the impact it had on the country, I am surpised, but the miner's strike was started on 11th March 1984. 25 years ago yesterday..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/looknorthyorksl..._feature.shtml

Now, whether you agree with the Miners or Margaret Thatcher, you have to admit, that strike did have a massive impact and it did change the country.

Russ · 12-03-2009, 11:38

Well you have to hand it to Maggie, if you're going to cripple several communities in one go, you do it properly or not at all.

LondonRoad · 12-03-2009, 11:40

Community and society are alien concepts to thatcherites.

**Chris** · 12-03-2009, 11:59

And expecting deep coal mines to be profitable, efficient operations was an alien concept to Scargillites.

Russ · 12-03-2009, 12:02

With government aid and support (available to other industries at the time and subsequently) who knows how well the mining industry could have done.

**Hugh** · 12-03-2009, 12:04

A full ballot of the miners would have helped the strike's legitimacy, imho.

LondonRoad · 12-03-2009, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by foreverwar

A full ballot of the miners would have helped the strike's legitimacy, imho.

I agree although I don't think the outcome would have been different. It was a strike that was always going to be lost. The human cost was not important to Thatcher, she was hell bent on revenge for what the unions did to previous Tory administrations. Thatcher had the support of the press, especially the red tops, and hence the British public.

It's interesting that Scargill recently revealed that their had been strike deals agreed on 5 separate occasions and the first four were sabotaged by Thatcher.

They may will be flawed recollections but I wouldn't really be surprised if it was the case. I suspect that Thatcher knew she had won but wanted to make the victory final.

Paul K · 12-03-2009, 12:51

With other countries happy to strip mine and completely destroy whole swathes of land there is no way this country could have remained competitive in pricing within the mining industry.
No one wants to strike and often there are legitimate reasons to strike but 25 years ago there was behaviour on both sides that when looked back on is shocking and saddening.

LondonRoad · 12-03-2009, 12:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

With other countries happy to strip mine and completely destroy whole swathes of land there is no way this country could have remained competitive in pricing within the mining industry. .

I agree that's the case in our generation but with dwindling fossil fuel resources this wouldn't always have been the case. If cost hadn't been the only consideration, many of these mines could have been put on a care and maintenance basis and been financially viable in the future.

Some would actually be viable just now.

I'm sure future generations will look back at some of the decisions made in our time and be totally bewildered by them.

Pierre · 12-03-2009, 13:16

There's still lots of coal in the UK. Problem now is though, where the pits once where are now industrial units or "eco" towns.

The cost to reopen many closed pits, at the moment, are to prohibitive. But the price of coal will go up. Everybody I know has ripped out, or is planning to rip out, their gas fires and are replacing them with open fires or stoves. So the demand may make it viable to reopen some pits.

In regards to the strike, the unions needed breaking. They had already destroyed the motor industry and had held the country to ransom in previous years with powercuts and blackouts a plenty.

I have no sympathy for the miners, had they held adult talks witht he government and accepted that change was necessary we might have had more of a coal industry than we do now.

lucy7 · 12-03-2009, 13:20

I remember the day clearly, as it was when I got married.
We went away, flew back to Manchester airport, up the M62, and the strikers were out on the bridges over the motorway with banners and placards.

The division between families was terrible.
We still know of a family who will have nothing to do with one of their sons, as he went back to work.
They called him a scab then, and last time we had the discussion about him, they still refered to him as that same word!
His brother who did stay out on strike though, has no hard feelings.

lauzjp · 12-03-2009, 16:05

Our council is in the process of removing all the fire places from council properties - not that they were coal ones anyway, but we don't even have gas fires - where was the demand for coal? Of course mines would have to close. The government can't keep bailing out failing businesses out of some sort of pity, where would that lead us?

LondonRoad · 12-03-2009, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauzjp

Our council is in the process of removing all the fire places from council properties - not that they were coal ones anyway, but we don't even have gas fires - where was the demand for coal? Of course mines would have to close. The government can't keep bailing out failing businesses where would that lead us?

The demand for coal comes from power stations. Most of it now has to be imported. It would have cost the government of the day a miniscule amount to keep some pits on a care and maintenance basis, compared to the obscene amounts of money they have used to bail out the collapsed banking industry.

There would have been no pity required. There were strong economic and social arguments for such a policy but they didn't fit in with the pure greed culture promoted by the Thatcherites.

lauzjp · 12-03-2009, 16:41

did the government at the time just assume that power stations would go nuclear or something then? how odd.

Arthurgray50@blu · 12-03-2009, 17:14

I read an article in a national paper about three days ago, that the miners strike could have been sorted out quickly, but that old bag Thatcher, stopped the agreement several times.

The NCB and the miners agreed a settlement to stop the strike, but the old bag, blocked it, and that is why it went for so long. The good thing is that after so many years, there is a mining industry and it is going strong, and now is the time we need it.