Listen: Dominic Sandbrook explores the pivotal early years of Margaret Thatchers premiership in Britain, 197982. Following the continuation of coal production after the strikes, MacGregor closed 20 pits. No fewer than seventy-five lost their lives. Will you pass the quiz? It had all been for nothing. Womens Experiences at the First Coeducational College at the University of Oxford, Selected further resources for research and study, Co-curating diverse histories with Uncomfortable Oxford, Exploring Histories of Health and Medicine in Oxford, OUDCE (Oxford University Department for Continuing Education), Revelations: Black History in Portraiture. When I put on the girdle the blisters would break and the girdle would stick, and next day they would fill again! And Thatcher had another powerful weapon on her side the police. Methane was also known as firedamp and minedamp. The coal industry was nationalised in 1946, which protected miners' jobs but also meant the government could decrease their wages. Meanwhile the newspapers played up every skirmish for all it was worth. On the 5th January 1972, the National Executive Committee of the NUM rejected a small pay rise from the National Coal Board, who then 2 days later, withdrew all pay offers from the last 3 months. NUM President Joseph Gormley said the latest pay deal remained in the spirit of the social contract. The Monmouthshire Merlin reviewed the effects of the strike on not just the workers, but those around them. Children explained how they were fitted with a girdle and chain around their body to pull the coal out of the mine. As demonstrated in this image, families were brought to near starvation during these strikes. After subsequent government cuts, the mining community began to protest their treatment throughout the 1970s. Economics Lerne mit deinen Freunden und bleibe auf dem richtigen Kurs mit deinen persnlichen Lernstatistiken. What was one of the defining violent events of the 1984 Miners' Strike? The newspapers had mixed opinions about the strike. Wilkie was driving David Williams, a working miner, to the Merthyr Vale mine with a police escort on 30 November 1984. From the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, employment in British coal mining fell from over 700,000 to under 300,000. Often the first child was conceived out of wedlock, making marriage necessary; to abandon the pregnant girlfriend was not an option in mining communities. This time around the gloves would be off. As the months went by, life for the miners and their families got progressively harder. ]]> Let's look at a brief history of the coal mining community throughout Modern British history. Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to reduce . Thirdly, it is an oral history approach, using interviews with a number of key miners, miners wives and supporters to allow the story of the strike to be told through the rich experiences of a selected cast of characters. Between March 1984 and March 1985, more than half the country's 187,000 miners left work in what was the biggest industrial dispute in post-war Britain. Please provide the following information; Thank you for your request. An alternative source of miners solidarity derived from the communities they lived in. Labour formed a minority government as Heath refused to agree to a coalition and resigned. Thatcher appointed the ruthless Ian McGregor to the head of the National Coal Board in 1983. pp. A hung parliament is when no party manages to win over half the seats in a general election, meaning no one can form a majority government. A 1994 European Union report named Grimethorpe the poorest village in England. If the miners wife did well, generally the children also did well, going to university and getting a professional job. Two striking miners dropped a 21kg concrete block from a bridge onto the car . As the chairman of UK coal stated: I have known men take liberty with the drawers.. But in Nottinghamshire, the majority of. It now had a membership of 533,000. Under government control, wages, hours and safety improved, and at the end of the war miners wanted to retain the status quo. England 1980s UK HOMER SYKES RM TR9C1E - 3rd March 1985. All unions were also required to register with the government to retain their rights legally. It restricted workers' rights to strike by introducing an 'unfair industrial practice' policy. The Miners' Strike of 1984 was a turning point in British history. After the report, the public was horrified and Parliament passed an act in 1842 which prohibited women and male children under the age of 10 from working below the surface at the collieries. the 1984 strike protested Thatcher's plans to close mines and de-nationalise the coal mining industry. When did the Trade Union Congress call the General Strike? https://www.youtube.com/embed/8n8BeD6fkwc?controls=0. In 1978, a strike led by the private trade union of Ford manufacturers achieved a 17% wage increase. The miners' strike of 1984-85 was the longest and most acrimonious industrial dispute in Britain's modern history. In 1984, 20 pits were to close, with 20,000 jobs to go- but more were to be announced. Given the importance of mining in Scotland and the literacy of the Scottish population at this time, this seems to be a not very balanced coverage. Heath's campaign was famous for the phrase 'Who governs Britain: the government or the miners?'. Findmypast | 90%. This Department does not have precise information about the numbers of workers in each of the categories shown. But galloping over the horizon would be the woman who would prove to be their nemesis Margaret Thatcher. This image from the Illustrated London News shows children waiting at a soup kitchen at Ince during the ninth week of a colliery strike in Lancashire. However, Doncaster was the centre of an arc of pits including Bentley Hatfield. In the month of August, we have looked at occupations and employment through the newspapers. These included the development of power loading and mechanized cutting. The final mine, Kellingley in North Yorkshire, closed for good in 2015. By registering you get free access to our website and app (available on desktop AND mobile) which will help you to super-charge your learning process. The Afan Valley flowing east to west to Port Talbot, provided something of a link between them. Coal Wage Index Average day wages of male coal miners 1830-1869 are given by Church (1986). They found reports of beatings for those who were not quick enough or complained. $15 - $30. The failure of the 1984-85 miners' strike helped revive the British economy, but had major implications for the future of labor unions and coal mining in Britain. By clicking on 'Agree', you accept the use of these cookies. This time around the gloves would be off. On 9th January 1972, coal miners across the country began striking. The conflicts witnessed between police and picketers were very different from the 1972 and 1974 strikes. But it was more than that: to the communities involved, from Scotland and South Wales to Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, it often felt like an undeclared civil war, pitting village against village, family against family even brother against brother. The children of mining families, brought up during and after the strike, made the fullest use of the expansion of the university sector. Many of these men had little capital and often paid wages in goods not These wages were often essential for a family's survival. This period came to be known as the "Winter of Discontent", spanning the winter months between 1978 and 1979. The 6 March 1984-3 March 1985, miners' strike was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. Average gross weekly earnings, derived from the New Earnings Survey 1973, are 41.90. The salaries of Coal Miners in the US range from $11,105 to $294,800 , with a median salary of $53,905 . In the 1970s, the police had treated the miners with kid gloves. You can change your cookie settings at any time. The coal industry was officially privatised. about 5/- per day. Three months of negotiations with the National Coal Board ended in deadlock four days ago with an offer. Never to cross a picket line was a question of honour. The miners and their families had endured months of hardship. Coal mines in the UK As of 2021, there were. Some commentators worried that she was using the police as a paramilitary wing of the state. Thirty-seven-year-old Betty Harris distressing testimony described pulling coal out of the pit on her hands and knees. Create flashcards in notes completely automatically. They would lose a lot more in the years to come. 01 Jun 2019. Logically, coal mining had to go. 2 This poster advertised the mining industry to Britons during the Second World War. Nie wieder prokastinieren mit unseren Lernerinnerungen. Many other industries joined in solidarity with the miners. The introduction of the safety lamp was not enough to completely prevent explosions and accidents within the mines. The lamp helped to prevent explosions caused by the presence of methane in the pits. All Rights Reserved. They set up support groups to run soup kitchens and put together food parcels for striking miners families, raising money from local pubs and clubs and then further afield, nationally and later internationally. 3.8. When such differences lead to the cessation of labour, there is superadded great pecuniary loss, always falling most heavily, of course, upon the men, from the smallness of their resources but very injurious also to the owner, and detrimental, as well, if continued, to the shipping and other interests of the port. But with both sides refusing to compromise, the strike dragged on for almost exactly a year, causing immense hardship to thousands of families, before Scargill reluctantly conceded defeat in March 1985. Desperate to preserve their jobs and communities, which often depended entirely on the local pit, the Yorkshire miners walked out, as did their Scottish counterparts. Many of the richest coal fields had been worked out and the number of miners had been decreasing over the previous few decades. 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. asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT as The villagers, many of them in tears, cheered and clapped as the men of Grimethorpe Colliery marched back to work accompanied by the villages world-famous brass band. Ultimately many miners returned to work, and were forced to accept longer hours and lower pay. Joseph Gormley presided over a period of relative harmony in the coal industry for the rest of the 1970s and achieved the relatively peaceful closure of 40 pits in that period. Estimated $34.8K - $44.1K a year. Was it a good thing that the miners lost? Fig. The second difference was that the government was far better prepared in 1984 than it had been 10 years earlier. This led to power cuts, the introduction of a three-day working week and the downfall of the Conservative government of Edward Heath. Free and expert-verified textbook solutions. We discover how individuals became involved in the strike, what strike and support action they were engaged in and what happened to them afterwards. It stopped when the Butty system ceased A reporter for the Dublin Evening Mail was amazed that even in the face of eviction the workers still held their convictions. The intention at the outset of the project, was to focus on a fixed number of mining villages, one for each coalfield. Noticed a typo? Heath introduced the Three-Day Working Week at the start of 1974 to combat the 1973 Oil Crisis, and the second UK Miners' strike took place on 24. Six persons killed, one as young at 9. and demonstrated his inability to recognise the country's troubles. Who succeeded Edward Heath as Prime Minister after the 1974 general election? We will look at these topics in closer detail. How was James Callaghan ousted as Prime Minister in 1979? Grimethorpes story was repeated up and down the land. STRIKES Many of our readers will remember the miners' strike of 1980s. GenesReunited, The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser, Hot off the press titles added this week. Women Miners Work to Record a More Complete History of 1980s Labor Strikes A spirit of collaborationacross oceans, among women, between miners and queer alliesmarked the miners' strikes of the 1980s. What other forms of energy came available in the 1960s besides coal? AETNUK. Despite producing around 44% of British power needs (from just 39 mines employing 6,000 people - UK Coal) , even the UK coal industry knows it is an industry in decline. Although the strike was over, the scars never went away. Tens of thousands of miners went on strike following an announcement by Coal Board Chairman Ian McGregor that 20 uneconomic pits would have to close, putting 20,000 miners out of work. By David Egan. mine workers were employed not by the mine owner but by a charter master Ian McGregor was appointed in 1981 to de-nationalise the coal industry. Police Clashing with Miners During the 1984 Strike. Like Scargill, Mrs Thatcher struck a remarkably aggressive, uncompromising tone right from the start. Copyright 2023 - Faculty of History, George Street, Oxford, OX1 2RL Flying pickets were made illegal in the 1970s by the Conservatives. There is an understanding among workers that . Life for the residents of Grimethorpe got worse following the closure. 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. When I drew by the girdle and chain the skin was broken, and the blood ran down. In the media, the striking miners, working miners and the police were cast as little armies sweeping backwards and forwards across the countryside. 104-8, for 1871-94; F.A. Set individual study goals and earn points reaching them. Furthermore, police officers were drafted in from outside the striking counties, so law enforcement was unsympathetic to the strikers. The strike was officially called to a halt on March the 3rd 1985. recorded wage or price is unknown it is attributed to the calendar year in which the majority of the account year falls. Edited highlights of the original programme. Coal Society - A History of the South Wales Mining Valleys 1840-1980. A flying picket was the organised transportation of strikers to strategic workplaces, such as coal processing plants. However, a broad guide to subsequent changes is provided by later information from the average earnings index, covering all employees in mining and quarrying, which shows an increase of around 10 per cent. He determined that at least twenty unprofitable pits must be closed immediately for economic reasons, which was met with great suspicion by the National Union of Mineworkers, in particular the unions leader, the firebrand Arthur Scargill. They created an Emigration Fund to reduce the number of excess labourers and they provided assistance to West Moor Miners who were on strike to resist a reduction in their wages. When did Margaret Thatcher become the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain? | Report other issues | © UK Parliament. The government had already stockpiled six months worth of coal before the strike, anticipating that a strike might be coming. Thatcher appointed the ruthless Ian McGregor to the head of the National Coal Board in 1983. As the data prior to 1997 are from a different survey to those from 1997 onwards they are not directly comparable and so care should be taken when analysing long-term trends over time. Illustrated Police News, 21 September 1878. The 1980s and 1990s saw much change in the coal industry, with privatisation, the industry contracting, in some areas quite drastically. Twice in recent years, in 1972 and 1974, the miners had struck for higher pay, and both times they had won. 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. A miner could also be disciplined for failing to operate his lamp safely. language, region) are saved. Source: BLS Bulletin no. Thatcher had secretly stockpiled supplies of both coal and coke in strategic sites around the country; her government had also entered into agreements with non-unionised haulage firms to break the pickets and carry the coal from storage facilities and coking plants to power stations and factories. It may take a while to download. Little more than 60 years after the end of the Second World War, Britain's last coal mine producer (UK coal) is fighting for survival. All the rates published are below 42. You could write several books about the 19C coal miners, and related subjects. When negotiations failed, Gormley called for the 1972 UK Miners' Strike. Get FREE access to HistoryExtra.com. They were known as hurries and thrusters. In 1970, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson lost the general election to Edward Heath of the Conservatives. Miners across Yorkshire began strike action and on 12 March, a national strike was declared by the NUM, but no official vote was held. If you want more information about what cookies are and which cookies we collect, please read our cookie policy. Other improvements include extending unsocial hours by an extra two hours, increasing the hourly rate from 1p to 20p and setting national - rather than individual - weekly production bonuses of 3 for output over 100,000 tonnes of target. Would the reference to Scotlands worst mining disaster be that which occurred at Blantyre on the 22nd November 1877? Targets rose to 150 million tonnes over the decade from the 115 million tonnes achieved in 1975. I have drawn till I have had the skin off me: the belt and chain is worse when we are in the family way. Coal was formed between 170 and 300 million years ago. The NUMs strategy for thwarting McGregors plan was simple. In 1981, the country was producing 128 million tonnes of coal a year. The Miners Strike of 1984-1985 was an attempt by miners to stop the National Coal Board (NCB) and the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shutting down collieries (mines). Miners reported that they knew they could rely on their friends and neighbours for support in hard times. | Home page | Mining Many pits were considered uneconomic [25] to work at then current wage rates compared to cheap North Sea oil and gas, and in comparison to subsidy levels in Europe. In traditionally non-militant Nottinghamshire, many miners resented being strong-armed, as they saw it, into a strike without a ballot. Upon this not being granted, Gormley initiated the 1972 UK Miners' Strike. 24th January 1974: The 1974 miners' strike began. It was surprising to observe the amount of indifference which prevailed among the pitmen as to whether or not they and their families could be turned from their dwellings. We use this information to make the website work as well as possible and improve our services. Miners were proud of their work. 8th February 1974: Edward Heath called a snap election in response to continued failed negotiations with the NUM. The origins of the strike lay in the gradual rundown of the British coal industry, with the workforce falling from a peak of more than 1 million between the world wars to barely 200,000 at the start of the 1980s. Asked By Wiki User. Miners had to cope with hazards regularly, including roof collapses and explosions. 1976: Wilson unexpectedly resigned as prime minister and was replaced by James Callaghan. In 1884 the average wage of the colliers in Whitfield colliery was Around 5,000 picketers matched 5,000 police officers at a British Steel Corporation coking plant in Orgreave, Yorkshire. As a result, the strikers never really came close to causing the kind of coal shortages and power cuts that might have brought victory. Leading left-winger and President of the Yorkshire branch of the NUM Arthur Scargill said: The social contract has been breached and to that extent I welcome the advances which have been made.". The competitiveness of international coal prices forced British industries to move away from domestic coal, leading to more mine closures. This article, written in 1974 by Homer Butler, notates typical wages received by local coal miners and the effects of striking for higher wages on the miners and their families from just after the turn of the century to the depression. | Wages | Coal uses |. Many industries took part alongside the miners. Youve accepted all cookies. To strengthen their cause, miners began to form unions in the mid-19th century. Greer Industries, Inc. Morgantown, WV 26508. View. UK Civil Service. Unemployment rocketed to 50%. Most pickets throughout the strike were non-violent. Mines were the beating hearts of communities stretching from Scotland to Kent. 1975: The 35% wage increase was instituted. First of all, it looks at the strike through three lenses, class, community and family. Mining Economics / Wages In the 18 th and much of the 19 th century most mine workers were employed not by the mine owner but by a charter master or 'Butty' who had agreed to get coal for a fixed price per ton. Even further south, in Leicestershire, only thirty miners went on strike but became some of the most active missionaries of the strike nation-wide, nicknamed The Dirty Thirty. The pits in the area closed in the 1960s, leaving Cowdenbeath with only an NUM workshop, so that as in County Durham miners from Central Fife travelled to the coastal collieries of Seafield and Frances to work, but the headquarters of the strike and support group remained at Cowdenbeath. cash. Moderate trade unionists and the government were keen to preserve the social contract and avoid further industrial action. 165-167. It is important to know about the family background, education, employment history and personal lives of the activists in order to provide a context for their activism. Although the 1984 Miners' Strike was ultimately a failure, Scargill's tactics had encouraged more militant action. In 1971, Joe Gormley, president of the NUM, demanded a 43% wage increase for coal miners to counter the Conservative government's offer of a 7-8% increase. Miners forged their sense of themselves as the shock troops of the Industrial Revolution. Let's look at the two critical strikes in the 1970s. The life-history interview makes it possible to explore both the political and the personal, the public and the private, in the testimony of the interviewees. Stop procrastinating with our smart planner features. During the summer of 1984, Wilson along with four others were flying pickets, travelling from their home in Yorkshire to support striking mineworkers in Nottinghamshire. In South Yorkshire, the focus is on Askern, a mining village to the north of Doncaster, where the pit functioned until 1991. Overall the offer falls just short of figures demanded by the NUM's left-wing at last year's conference. However, was it really right that almost an entire industry was completely obliterated, with nothing to replace it in so many places? The interviews will be archived in due course by the British Library. Heath's campaign was famous for the phrase 'Who governs Britain: the government or the miners?'. The Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiserprinted the minutes from a delegation of Miners of Northumberland and Durham. Miners were men; the only women employed at the pit were cooks, cleaners or office staff. Later that day, miners at the Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire walked out on strike. Many of its employees haven't been paid in weeks, but the company still loaded up a. Despite the miners efforts, the government succeeded and in the end most of Britains coal mines were closed. Whatever people thought of the issues at stake, millions were appalled by the scenes of open fighting between pickets and police, which became emblematic of the conflicted, confrontational 1980s. Over 10 million students from across the world are already learning smarter. Scargill refused to entertain the idea of any pit closures save for those that posed safety risks. Scargill had risen through the ranks of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1970s. These communities were often at some distance from towns and cities with their concentrations of other workers. Hide. Both grew to be inseparable, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Two permissions have been secured from the interviewees, one that I may use the interviews for the current project, the to authorise the British Library to archive them in its oral history collection. 5 The police force was integral in dealing with the 1984 Miners' Strike when conflicts arose. Heath was only prepared to offer 7-8%. We would like to use cookies to collect information about how you use ons.gov.uk. Thatcher's government reduced the power of the Trade Unions and the pressure they could exert on the government, ending the strike in 1985. The commission found that it was not just the conditions themselves that were brutal but also the treatment of the employees by the owners. Hourly Rate. Its 100% free. A greater number of miners came out on strike in Scotland, Yorkshire (where the strike had started following the closure of Cortonwood Colliery), North East England and South Wales. Moreover, it relates to workers whose earnings were not affected by absence from work. Details of the national standard weekly rates of wages of various categories of coal miners, operative from 1st April 1973, are given in the publication "Time Rates of Wages and Hours of Work". The three-day working week came into force on 1st January 1974, affecting many businesses. Police Incident report from Northumbria, 1984. The average age of those killed is 32.13. The government was offering only 5% to employees of nationalised industries, so these industrial unions also began to protest. But instead of calling a national strike, Scargill encouraged the regions to follow suit individually. The 1972 strike was a result of Edward Heath refusing to allow the 43% wage increase the NUM was demanding. It became illegal in 1817, but While the miners of Kent, Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and South Wales downed tools and took to the picket lines, their counterparts in the Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, South Derbyshire and North Wales coalfields carried on working. The social contract was brokered by Harold Wilson's Labour Government to settle the miners' strike after the general election last February and had promised food subsidies and price restraints to the unions in return for pay restraint and co-operation. Their job was considered one for life and the pay was customarily a family wage. "But I think much more could have been obtained with a more determined and militant approach," he continued. Meanwhile the mining community policed itself. What was the salary for a coal miner in the 1950s? Get 6 issues for 19.99 and receive a 10 gift card* PLUS free access to HistoryExtra.com, Save 70% on the shop price when you subscribe today - Get 13 issues for just $49.99 + FREE access to HistoryExtra.com, Your guide to the miners strike of 198485, The 1888 Matchgirls strike: how a group of East End women changed British labour history. Sign up to highlight and take notes. Scargill predicted rightly, as it turned out that in an attempt to stem its heavy financial losses, the National Coal Board was bound to push for further closures. The 1970s strikes were relatively successful for the miners, but the 1984 strike was a failure, and Thatcher won out over the protesting miners. For decades, Conservative and Labour governments alike had been closing pits and shedding jobs. Brief History of Policing in Great Britain, Brief History of the Association of Chief Police Officers. Crime increased by 30%. The Miners' Strike of 1984-1985 was an attempt by miners to stop the National Coal Board (NCB) and the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shutting down collieries (mines). NUM President Arthur Scargill called a nationwide strike but controversially did not hold a national ballot, so not all miners supported the strike. Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes. in the 1870s. Strikes have been used by miners as a form of protest for centuries. When this plant-life died, it rotted away and was buried and compacted into layers underground. Dalziel, The Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association, esp. My feller (husband) has beaten me many a time for not being ready. In South Wales, the initial focus is on Onllwyn, at the head of the Dulais Valley. This also detrimentally affected Britain - its second most used fuel was oil. Coal was used to power the massive steam engines as well as to create iron. The female body through the ages - do necks have a history? It affected a myriad of people in mining communities all around the UK. By the early 1980s the collieries were losing money. The defeat of the strike led very quickly to the closure of most coal mines, a general deindustrialisation of the economy, the rapid privatisation of nationalised industries, the shattering of organised labour, growing unemployment, the hollowing-out of mining and other working-class communities, and a steady increase in social inequality in British society. They generally married young and had many of children. Another is that after the strike former miners, miners wives and children reinvented themselves, furthering their education, finding other occupations, becoming involved in other political and social causes, curating the heritage of the mining industry.
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