The miners - strikes, scabs and conflict with the police.

The miners - strikes, scabs and conflict with the police.

The miners' strike took place from 1984-5, it was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry as an attempt to prevent colliery closures.

Arthur Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers against the National Coal Board - government agency - led this strike. When Margaret Thatcher came into power, the conservative government wanted to move Britain forward, which involved ridding the country of industries that were not efficient and making much money. This included; car manufacturing, ship building and coal mining.

In 1984, the National Coal Board announced that 20 coal mines would close, this would lead to an excess of 20,000 jobs being lost. As many times were built around mines and this was the main source of employment for the town; if the mine closes then the entire town would be affected and every business within the town would be affected, too. Miners worried about possible closures in the areas that went on strike - over 187,000 miners went on strike in an attempt to prevent this.

Scargill declared that the strikes in various coal fields were to be a national strike and called for strike action from National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members in all coal fields on 12th March 1984. 

Scabs were workers who do not go on strike with their colleagues, this was because when workers go on strike they are not paid. Therefore, scabs decided to stay in work and not strike in order to continue receiving an income. This resulted in violence as it angered those of the miners who were striking, they felt as though the scabs were betraying them to a certain degree. The scabs were helping to destroy the mining industry, they did not fully understand what the strikers were trying to achieve. 

The Battle of Orgreave - 18 June 1984 - involved striking miners attempting to blockade the Orgreave Coking Plant near Rotherham. Approximately 5,000 miners and 5,000 police broke into violence, after police on horseback charged with truncheons drawn 51 pickets and 72 policemen were injured. other less well known, but blood, battles between pickets and police took place. For example, in Maltby, south Yorkshire.

During the strike, 11291 people were arrested, mostly for breach of the peace or obstructing roads whilst picketing, of whom 8,392 were charged and between 150-200 were imprisoned. At least 9,000 mineworkers were dismissed after being arrested whilst picketing even when no charges were brought.

The strike ended on 3 March 1985, nearly a year after it had begun. The South Wales area called for a return to work on condition that men sacked during the strike would be reinstated, but the NCB rejected the proposal when its bargaining position was improved by miners returning to work. Only the Yorkshire and Kent regions voted against ending the strike. One of the few concessions made by the NCB was to postpone the closure of the five pits: Cortonwood, Bullcliffe Wood, Herrington, Polmaise and Snowdown.