Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The miners' strike of 1984–5 was a defining moment in the history of the British labor movement. The strike was not only an industrial dispute concerned with the future closure of a significant number of collieries within the British coalfield or the dramatic job losses that would occur as a result. It was also symbolic of the wider conflict between the trade union movement, embodied by National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president Arthur Scargill, and the Conservative government, embodied by the entrepreneurialism promoted by Margaret Thatcher. The dispute started in response to the announcement of the closure of Cortonwood Colliery, in Yorkshire. This decision formed part of a wider strategy by the National Coal Board (NCB) to further contract the British coal industry. In this context, Cortonwood can be understood as the “final straw” in the disintegrating relationship between the NUM and the NCB. The scale of the proposed closures and the manner in which the announcement was made – without any consultation with the union – also marked a turning point in the way in which the Conservative government understood the role of the coal industry. The NUM sought to endorse local area strikes that were already underway in Yorkshire, Scotland, and South Wales, in an attempt to instigate a domino effect. Therefore, rather than calling for a national ballot, the NUM decided to appeal for ... log in or subscribe to read full text