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. Let's find out about these strikes and the changing power dynamic between trade unions and the government.
Coal miners' strikes - keywords
| Term | Definition |
| Trade union | An association of workers in a trade or profession which works to protect, and advance, their rights and interests |
| National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) | An industrial union of all Britain's coalminers, created in 1945, that represented the miners during the strikes |
| National Coal Board (NCB) | The government department formed in 1946 that ran Britain's coal industry after it was nationalised |
| Nationalisation | Moving aspects of the economy from private to government control |
| Privatisation | Selling nationalised industries to private buyers and investors |
| Strike | A protest organised by employees in which they refuse to work until their demands are met or negotiated |
| Picket line | A line of protesters outside a workplace during a strike |
History of coal mining in Britain
Let's look at a brief history of the coal mining community throughout Modern British history.
| Date | Event |
| 1868 | The Trades Union Congress (TUC) was established, representing and promoting trade unions in Britain. |
| 1889 | Miner's Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was founded, combining many coal mining trade unions into one body. |
| 1913 | British coal output peaked at 292 million tonnes. |
| 1920 | Coal mining employment peaked at 1.2 million people. |
| 1926 | The TUC called a general strike to protest decreasing wages for coal miners and poor work conditions. Many industries took part alongside the miners. It was suppressed by the government and resulted in the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which forbade general and sympathetic strikes. |
| 1945 | The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) succeeded the MFGB. |
| 1946 | The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act was passed, establishing the National Coal Board (NCB) the same year to nationalise Britain's coal mining industry. Government spending cuts after WWII meant that miners' wages began decreasing significantly. |
| 1969 | Coal miners organised an unofficial strike, protesting against working hours. Wages also become part of the issue. |
| 9th January 1972 | The NUM staged the 1972 UK Miners' Strike. |
| 1973 | A global oil crisis followed Arab countries stopping oil exports to supporters of Israel. The NUM voted to ban overtime, halving the UK's coal production. The 3-day working week was announced amidst the limited energy supplies, commencing on 1st January 1974. |
| 24th January 1974 | The NUM staged the 1974 UK Miners' Strike. |
| 1978-9 | The Winter of Discontent - around 2,000 strikes occurred protesting Callaghan's governmental measures to reduce inflation. |
| 1979 | Margaret Thatcher won the general election. She appointed Ian McGregor as head of the NCB to handle the future of the British coal mining industry. |
| 1981 | The NUM and Thatcher negotiated her plans to cut subsidies to coal mining. She conceded a reduction rather than a full cut. |
| 1984 | Arthur Scargill, president of the NUM, called for another strike but failed to keep pits open as the country had stockpiled coal. |
| 1995 | The coal industry was officially privatised. |
Causes of the strikes
Fig. 1 The 1926 General Strike was coordinated by the Trade Union Congress to protest against miners' wages. Many other industries joined in solidarity with the miners.
After 1945, Britain entered a period of economic hardship. Coal was recognised as the country's lifeblood, with many services still requiring steam power and electricity. However, miners soon faced difficulties:
- The coal industry was nationalised in 1946, which protected miners' jobs but also meant the government could decrease their wages.
- The 1956 Clean Air Act restricted coal burning in fireplaces in favour of cleaner fuels, leading to a decline in demand.
- In the 1960s, new, generally cheaper energy sources were being discovered, such as oil, natural gas and nuclear power.
- It also became cheaper to import coal from countries such as Poland and Australia rather than mining it in Britain.
By the end of the 1960s, an unofficial miners' strike in 1969 protested against the unfair working hours of older miners and wage decreases. In the 1970s, the NUM and NCB negotiated miners' treatment. Official striking began when these negotiations failed.
1970s miners' strikes
Let's look at the two critical strikes in the 1970s.
1972 miners' strike
Fig. 2 This poster advertised the mining industry to Britons during the Second World War. After subsequent government cuts, the mining community began to protest their treatment throughout the 1970s.
In 1970, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson lost the general election to Edward Heath of the Conservatives. Heath promised a new style of government to strengthen the economy after Wilson's poor management.
In 1971, Heath introduced the Industrial Relations Act - what did this entail?
- It created legally binding agreements over wages and supply.
- It restricted workers' rights to strike by introducing an 'unfair industrial practice' policy.
- This introduced a National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC), which had the right to decide whether a strike was legal or illegal.
- All unions were also required to register with the government to retain their rights legally.
This act ultimately failed as the TUC refused to cooperate with the measures and increased their opposition.
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. On 9th January 1972, coal miners across the country began striking.
The strike caused Britain's energy supplies to suffer greatly, and Heath had to schedule national blackouts. Under immense pressure, the government compromised with the NUM, offering a wage increase of around 30%. This made coal mining one of the highest-paid working-class jobs in the country.
The strikers used a strategy known as a "flying picket", in which miners would be transported around the country to join picket lines and gain other miners' support. This significantly increased the number of miners who joined the protests and contributed to the national impact of the strike.
Miners' strike 1974
The 1974 strike was an even more significant blow to the government - let's look at a brief outline of events.
December 1973: Due to a severe lack of fuel, Edward Heath announced that most commercial and industrial establishments could only use electricity three days a week. The three-day working week came into force on 1st January 1974, affecting many businesses.
- October 1974: Another general election was called, and the Labour party gained a small majority of three seats.
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. This can be resolved by forming a coalition or minority government.
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.
A minority government is formed after unsuccessful coalitions - the party with the most seats controls the government but has difficulty passing legislation.
Winter of Discontent 1978-79
In 1978, a strike led by the private trade union of Ford manufacturers achieved a 17% wage increase. The government was offering only 5% to employees of nationalised industries, so these industrial unions also began to protest. This period came to be known as the "Winter of Discontent", spanning the winter months between 1978 and 1979.
Fig. 3 Following a question about the so-called Winter of Discontent, James Callaghan reportedly said "Crisis? What crisis?" and demonstrated his inability to recognise the country's troubles.
Over 2000 strikes took place across the country, demanding pay increases - the government's reputation was severely damaged. Following a vote of no confidence in parliament, Callaghan called a general election for May 1979.
Thatcher and the coal miners' strikes in the 1980s
In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. One of Thatcher's key aims was to limit the role of government so that Britons changed from "dependent" to "self-reliant". This entailed privatising state-own industries, thus reducing the subsidies provided by the government.
Fig. 4 The 1984 Miners' Strike divided the nation but demonstrated Thatcher's new approach to how the government would deal with Trade Unions.
To tackle the government's issues with the coal industry, Thatcher put a series of actions into place:
- Since 1979, Nigel Lawson, the Secretary of State for Energy, stockpiled up to 6 months' worth of coal in case of further strikes.
- The 1980 Coal Industry Act reduced the borrowing power of the NCB, thus reducing the number of subsidies granted to British mines.
- Ian McGregor was appointed in 1981 to de-nationalise the coal industry.
A governmental subsidy is a provision of financial support to a British industry to promote its continuation.
Who was Ian MacGregor?
In 1980, Secretary of State of Industry Sir Keith Joseph appointed a Scottish-American economist Ian MacGregor as head of the nationalised steel industry, British Steel. MacGregor turned the steel industry around, making it profitable in 3 years. Proving his worth, Thatcher appointed MacGregor as head of the National Coal Board in 1983. Arthur Scargill, who had taken the president position of the NUM in 1982, saw the appointment as a threat to the coal industry following the methods MacGregor used for the steel industry.
1984 miners' strike
On 6th March 1984, the NCB planned to reduce Britain's coal production by 4 million tonnes and put around 20,000 mining jobs at risk. Later that day, miners at the Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire walked out on strike. NUM President Arthur Scargill called a nationwide strike but controversially did not hold a national ballot, so not all miners supported the strike. This led to legal action taken by out-of-work non-striking miners against Scargill's illegal strike.
The strikes ended on 5th March 1985. Scargill was unsuccessful as the stockpiled coal meant that MacGregor did not have to compromise.
The 1980 Social Security Act had reduced the benefits that striking miners' families received. Therefore, in 1984, miners were not being paid, and their families were the only ones suffering from the strikes. Following the continuation of coal production after the strikes, MacGregor closed 20 pits.
Miners' strike riots
Although the 1984 Miners' Strike was ultimately a failure, Scargill's tactics had encouraged more militant action. The conflicts witnessed between police and picketers were very different from the 1972 and 1974 strikes.
Fig. 5 The police force was integral in dealing with the 1984 Miners' Strike when conflicts arose.
Scargill had organised the flying pickets witnessed in the 1974 UK Miners' Strike when he was president of the Yorkshire NUM. When he became president of the whole NUM, he introduced these tactics to the picketers during the 1984 strike.
Furthermore, police officers were drafted in from outside the striking counties, so law enforcement was unsympathetic to the strikers. Clashes between the police and strikers resulted in injuries and deaths and demonstrated a legalising of state violence against protesters, hailing in a new era of state control.
The Battle of Orgreave
Around 5,000 picketers matched 5,000 police officers at a British Steel Corporation coking plant in Orgreave, Yorkshire. Police reports mention that the miners began the conflict by throwing stones and other projectiles at the police, but miners have since refuted this.
The police launched a mounted truncheon charge against the protesters, with 51 strikers and 72 officers being injured. The police have been accused of doctoring their accounts of the conflict and using unjust force on the protesters. The violence was filmed and came to be a horrific image in the memory of the strike.
Miners' Strike - Key takeaways
- Since 1945, the need for British coal mining decreased due to the importation of coal, other sources of energy such as oil and natural gas, and changes to pollution legislation.
- Edward Heath refused the NUM's demand for a 43% pay rise and a strike was held in 1972. The strike ended with the government conceding a 30% wage increase as Britain's energy demands caused national suffering such as blackouts.
- 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 24th January 1974. After a snap election, Harold Wilson won with a minority Labour government and introduced a 35% pay rise for miners, ending the strike and the Three-Day working week. The 1978-9 Winter of Discontent under Callaghan saw over 2000 nationwide strikes and the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
- Thatcher stockpiled coal in 1979 and changed striking laws to reduce benefits to strikers. Arthur Scargill started the 1984 Miners' strike in response to proposed mine closures, but Britain was able to continue operating due to the stockpiles. Thatcher's government reduced the power of the Trade Unions and the pressure they could exert on the government, ending the strike in 1985.
References
- Fig. 4 Picture of 1984 Miners Strike (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miners_strike_rally_London_1984.jpg) by Nick (https://www.flickr.com/people/34517490@N00) licensed by CC BY 2.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en)
- Fig. 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)
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