Logically, coal mining had to go. The local colliery's closure (including the mine and all additional buildings or offices) meant almost certain death for the mining communities built up around them. 5 West Midlands Police in 1984 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Day_147_-_West_Midlands_Police_-_Miner%27s_strikes_-_1984_(14495625275).jpg) by West Midlands Police (https://www.flickr.com/people/61718807@N07) licensed by CC BY SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en). The miners' strike 1984-85. Letters. 28,213 pounds of salt. After all, some homeowners will prefer coal whilst others admire the aesthetical value of firewood. We cover everything from coal, smokeless fuel, logs and kindling, so theres information for everyone! The country's last deep coal mine, Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire, shut in 2015. This is because it is now illegal to burn any other type of coal in the UK under the clean air act, brought in to help alleviate the problem with smog and pollution [], Theres nothing more comforting than having a roaring fire in your home stove when the weather is cold outside, or having your chiminea or fire pit crackling away on a warm evening. In fact, the strike is considered the longest industrial dispute regarding mining closures to this day and has paved the way for a more efficient mining industry. At times, that strike - lasting from 5 March 1984 to 3 March 1985 - almost seemed to be a battle of wills between the Barnsley-born leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Arthur . The miners' strike started on 6th March 1984 and ended almost a year later on 3rd March 1985. Madsen Pirie. Coal was recognised as the country's lifeblood, with many services still requiring steam power and electricity. During the Houghton County copper strike in 1913 the National Guard was called into action in the early stages to maintain peace. 0 items. Although, the workers have some time to sleep after work is over. Stockport This entailed privatising state-own industries, thus reducing the subsidies provided by the government. Here at Pearson Fuels, we stock a variety of fuels that are suitable for a wood burner and believe that they are [], It is important to burn firewood that has a moisture content below 20% as this ensures that the logs will burn evenly and efficiently. The coal industry was officially privatised. As a result, the strikers never really came close to causing the kind of coal shortages and power cuts that might have brought victory. So who was the greater fool? Replacement jobs failed to materialize, businesses closed down and young people got used to the idea of either moving away or wasting the best years of their lives on the dole. It was unsuccessful due to Margaret Thatcher's planning, such as stockpiling, law changes and strategic use of the police force. The Miners Strike of 1910-11 was an attempt by miners and their families to improve wages and living conditions in severely deprived parts of South Wales, where wages had been kept deliberately low for many years by a cartel of mine owners. As mentioned, the film is set during the miners' strike of the 1980s, a period of time that continues to have a huge effect on mining communities across Northern England and Wales. Set individual study goals and earn points reaching them. It had all been for nothing. By 1992, Grimethorpe Colliery had ceased operating and the miners had all been made redundant. Cumberland 10, 34 miners 22% voted 'yes, Derbyshire 15, 783 miners 49.9% of whom voted 'yes' etc then your . Jan 24, 2013. 1st March 1974: The general election resulted in a hung parliament. Our app offers a convenient and easy way to order fuel for delivery direct to your home or business premises. But galloping over the horizon would be the woman who would prove to be their nemesis Margaret Thatcher. Best study tips and tricks for your exams. The history of strikes in the UK. Mines were the beating hearts of communities stretching from Scotland to Kent. $0.00. Scargill used this as an excuse to call for a nationwide strike. Stop procrastinating with our smart planner features. It was suppressed by the government and resulted in the, The NUM and Thatcher negotiated her plans to cut subsidies to coal mining. She conceded a, Arthur Scargill, president of the NUM, called for another strike. Here at Pearson Fuels, we want to educate our readers on the differences [], Here at Pearson Fuels, we believe that knowledge is what makes the world go round! Here, historian Dominic Sandbrook revisits the longest and most acrimonious industrial dispute in Britains modern history: the miners strike of 198485. After all, both of these materials release carbon and soot during combustion which pass through the flue of a chimney in order to be removed from a property. Perhaps the Orgreave inquiry could run in parallel with one into events at Saltleyin 1972. As the strike in 1984 was ruled illegal, it deeply divided public opinion. Many of the miners had been part of multi-generational mining families. As a result, the UK government has been searching for feasible replacements for several years in preparation for this inevitability. A change in the law meant that the dependents of miners were not entitled to benefits, as they had been during the strikes of the 1970s. Theres nothing better to bring families and friends together than a BBQ on a hot summers day, but dont forget, when your BBQ is finished and everyone has left make sure you extinguish your BBQ properly. She encouraged the police to crack down on picketing miners and badgered local Chief Constables to block the mobile flying pickets which had been so successful in the 1970s. Read about our approach to external linking. A whole culture and identity had grown around coal mining, and with the loss of the mine, much of the cultural activities and infrastructure that had grown around it, from brass bands, to working mens clubs to NCB-sponsored sports and leisure facilities disappeared along with it. The government announced on 6 March 1984 that 20 collieries would close . The third difference was the Thatcher factor. Its the worlds largest source of energy as its primarily carbon thats used to generate electrical power. Nottinghamshire was the home of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM), whose members continued to work after splitting from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), arguing the strike had not been approved in a vote. According to a poll by the Opinion Research Corporation for the Evening Standard, published on 31 August 1984, some 94 per cent of the public disapproved of pickets' tactics and, when asked to pick between working and striking miners, 74 per cent sympathised with working miners compared to just 19 per cent with strikers. In Yorkshire, the mere mention of Baroness Thatcher's name is often likely to lead quickly to talk of the 1984-5 miners' strike. History on our Side: Wales and the 1984-85 Miners' Strike, Ferry Side: Iconau. Since no formal ballot had taken place, the courts ruled the strike illegal and, in a bid to prevent miners from striking for a prolonged period of time, it was also deemed illegal to claim state benefits. One aspect that people sometimes fail to take into consideration is checking whether their home falls in [], If you have a wood burning stove then you are going to need a good supply of firewood to keep warm throughout the colder months. Ridley Report. Proving his worth, Thatcher appointed MacGregor as head of the National Coal Board in 1983. She immediately jumped in the car to stop her husband David crossing the picket line, fearing for his life. [Google Scholar], History on our Side: Wales and the 1984-85 Miners' Strike; Bruley Bruley, Sue. This made coal mining one of the highest-paid working-class jobs in the country. After all, more and more households are choosing to invest in a stove in order to safely burn their chosen fuel for a competitively affordable price. Its 100% free. The introduction of imported strikebreakers and manufacturers finding substitutes for the . Every experienced log-burning household will know that firewood should be burned with a [], It is important to scour the market in order to find the most suitable fuel for your burning requirements. ", Two miners from opposite sides meet for the first time since the strike. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Coca-Cola's current financial-year sales and earnings suggests growth of 10.8% and 6.9%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers. When was the UK miners' strike? By the early 1980s, domestic coal production was becoming ever more unprofitable. 5. Fig. From the onset of the Industrial Revolution, working men and women have been withholding their labour as a means of bargaining for better pay and conditions. 1 The 1926 General Strike was coordinated by the Trade Union Congress to protest against miners' wages. There were rumours that the new Coal Board chairman, Ian MacGregor, wanted to close an additional 70. Of 27,551 Nottingham miners who took part in the ballot, 20,188 voted to defy the national executive committee and their fellow miners across the country and continue working. Furthermore, police officers were drafted in from outside the striking counties, so law enforcement was unsympathetic to the strikers. "The people in the crowd were throwing bricks, they were carrying all sorts of things - they came for business," she says. Very quickly, therefore, the strike became a trial of strength between two exceptionally abrasive public figures. Only three working collieries remain in the UK today. The 7 longest serving British Prime Ministers, 12 'commoners' who had ceremonial state funerals, Winters of discontent: 6 of the worst winters in British history, 'Just print more money': History's worst cases of hyperinflation. On March 3rd, 1985, the National Union of Mineworkers, led by Arthurs Scargill, voted to return to work after a year-long strike, the longest and most bitter strike, and one that finished without an agreement. In the 1970s, the NUM and NCB negotiated miners' treatment. Some commentators worried that she was using the police as a paramilitary wing of the state. All major credit and debit cards accepted, The Benefits of Burning Fuel at Christmas, How Relative Humidity Affects the Seasoning Process, The benefits of smokeless coal and what not to do, Preparing and making the perfect fire this winter, The Maintenance and Benefits of Wood Burning, 3 Reasons Why Coal Makes an Excellent Residential Fuel, The rules surrounding smoke controlled zones in the UK, Things to remember when seasoning firewood, The Difference Between Hardwood and Softwood. A period of great labor unrest marked the year leading up to the . Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002. A coalition is when two or more parties agree to lead the government together, meaning that combined, they have more than half of the seats in parliament. The Coal Miners' strikes between 1970-90 epitomised the struggle that the working class miners had with the government regarding their pay and the country's need for coal. Coal Miners facts. However, miners soon faced difficulties: By the end of the 1960s, an unofficial miners' strike in 1969 protested against the unfair working hours of older miners and wage decreases. When did Margaret Thatcher become the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain? Mrs Woodhead, who lives in the village of Blidworth, says some people still cross the road when they see her coming. The strike had two main goals: getting coal operators to follow state of Colorado mining law and gaining representation by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) for Colorado's coal miners. This period came to be known as the "Winter of Discontent", spanning the winter months between 1978 and 1979. How Thatcher broke the miners' strike but at what cost? Nearly 25,000 miners of the non-union fields in our district answered the strike call, and a great number of them, after 14 months, are still on strike. To find out more information, get in contact with the best coal merchants on the market and speak to a member of the team today. This also detrimentally affected Britain - its second most used fuel was oil. During this time gold was discovered in California. AETNUK. Ian McGregor was appointed in 1981 to de-nationalise the coal industry. What was one of the defining violent events of the 1984 Miners' Strike? In the media, the striking miners, working miners and the police were cast as little armies sweeping backwards and forwards across the countryside. On 2 May, the Times reported 7000-8000 workers at one strike meeting. "It goes deeper than deep. That's right. Striking miners lined the streets leading to pits in an attempt to stop their colleagues from going to work and, as tensions rose, a 24-year-old picket from Wakefield, David Jones, died hours after being hit by a brick in the Nottinghamshire town of Ollerton. Pullman Strike, (May 11, 1894-c. July 20, 1894), in U.S. history, widespread railroad strike and boycott that severely disrupted rail traffic in the Midwest of the United States in June-July 1894. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. High levels of poverty in the region forces . You can listen to a podcast interview with Dominic about the early 1980s here, Dominic Sandbrook is historian and presenter, and a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, Save up 50% when you subscribe to BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed PLUS! The 1970s strikes were relatively successful for the miners, but the 1984 strike was a failure, and Thatcher won out over the protesting miners. At one stage during the miners' strike the government hoped it might catch red-handed someone from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) trying to smuggle a suitcase full of banknotes into Britain. Twice in recent years, in 1972 and 1974, the miners had struck for higher pay, and both times they had won. The first selective strike in the history of the UMWA occurred in 1978 after a 110-day long coal strike. Many other industries joined in solidarity with the miners. After all, traditional house coal, such as bituminous coals, are often more beneficial than firewood for some properties. Eight deaths were attributed to the strike, including picketers, workers, and a taxi driver. Dominic Sandbrook is a historian and television presenter best-known for his books about Britain since the 1950s. What separate event occurred in 1973 that prompted the 1974 Miners' Strike? 1. 3. Big Annie of Calumet leading strike. The most recent, Who Dares Wins (Allen Lane, 2019), covers the early 1980s, including the first Thatcher administration, the Falklands War, and the New Romantics. In Nottinghamshire, a ballot was held and miners voted to carry on working. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) called the strike to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. In other areas it was much better supported - for example in south Wales, 99.6% of the 21,500 workers joined the action and, a year on, 93% were still not working. What crisis?" The strike caused Britain's energy supplies to suffer greatly, and Heath had to schedule national blackouts. The government had anticipated that the closures would prompt strike action and spent time before the announcement collecting an extra reserve of coal. Many years ago, the mining industry played an integral part in the economy of the country and the cities within it. On the one hand, the government, along with the National Coal Board, were increasingly aware of the growing costs of the mines, along with the fall in demand. It was a defining event in the history of industrial relations in the UK.. Thatcher stockpiled coal in 1979 and changed striking laws to reduce benefits to strikers. She gets help from the wives of men who went on strike from the beginning of the dispute and says that although she does not hold it against them, they do not talk about it. Blackout: The Three-Day Week - the UK's original energy crisis, The 7 longest serving British Prime Ministers, Winters of discontent: 6 of the worst winters in British history, Blood feud: 4 conflicts between royal siblings, The Tyburn Tree: London's premier execution spot, The real-life women who inspired WW2 screen heroines, 7 reasons Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition failed, The Reluctant King: The life of King George VI, Yorkshire's Nostradamus: The life and prophecies of Mother Shipton. Heath promised a new style of government to strengthen the economy after Wilson's poor management. An association of workers in a trade or profession which works to protect, and advance, their rights and interests, Moving aspects of the economy from private to government control, Selling nationalised industries to private buyers and investors, would give the Conservatives a more significant majority and give him more influence in negotiations. Rosehill Station Yard But this time was different. In 1978, a strike led by the private trade union of Ford manufacturers achieved a 17% wage increase. Identify your study strength and weaknesses. After all, there are several characteristics that this variety of the fossil fuel is known for that just cannot be obtained by alternatives like bituminous coal. Strikebreakers living in areas with a heavy sense of community often found themselves ostracised. Following an announcement to close 20 coal pits and reduce national capacity by at least 4 million tonnes, a protest was called by a man named Arthur Scargill, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers. In Stanley Baldwin. Why did the miners go on strike? The changing landscape of the UKs energy sector meant that soon many collieries would be obsolete. This led to violent clashes between the police and pickets, most notoriously at the Battle of Orgreave, where 5,000 miners faced a similar force of police officers. 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