National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) - The Miners' Strike, 1984-85

The Miners' Strike, 1984-85

In the 1980s, because some coal mines were unprofitable, the Conservative government headed by Margaret Thatcher sought to close them and privatise the rest. In some areas of the country, the NUM was considered militant and threatened strikes in 1981, when the government raised the issue, but as the government was not ready for a confrontation, it negotiated a settlement with the union and becked down from the closures. In what the NUM considered a confrontational move, Ian MacGregor, who had overseen cutbacks and closures at British Steel, was appointed head of the National Coal Board by Thatcher in 1983.

In 1984, after secretly stockpiling coal at the power stations, the NCB announced the closure of 20 pits. Local regions organised strikes but NUM President Arthur Scargill, without a national ballot of the union's membership, illegally declared a national strike in March 1984, making striking miners ineligible for benefits. Support for the strike was not universal among the miners; in some areas, the support was small, such as North Wales or great as in South Wales. Also, Yorkshire was much more enthusiastic about the strike than Nottinghamshire, where many miners refused to strike.

Margaret Thatcher described the strikers as the "enemy within", but Scargill was equally confrontational. Picket lines were stationed outside the pits and other industrial sites requiring coal, and violent clashes with police were common. Strikers had no source of income, so some were forced by circumstances to cross the picket lines as reluctant "scabs". The strike ended on 3 March 1985 and the miners returned to work without agreement with the NCB. The strike was unsuccessful and its failure was an era-defining moment in British politics. After the strike large numbers of mines were closed.

The effectiveness of the strike was reduced because the miner's leaders refused to ballot members on strike action. This was illegal under a new law, designed to outlaw decisions based on a show of hands, and replace them by secret ballot. The leadership presented this as an attack on its right to conduct its own internal affairs. The lack of a ballot reduced public support for the strike and made it possible for the government to use legal and police powers against the union without political consequences.