Miners strike

[poolger]

My friend and I were discussing this at work today and he believes that the miners would not have went on strike had there been a male prime minister, he insits that there was still gender discrimination in those days and that the miners did not like being dictated to by a woman and this in turn somehow weakining their manhood so went on strike rather than trying to reach a comprimise. What do you think, do you agree partially or is my friend talking rubbish.

[Pea Pod]

Arthur Scargill said strike and that was it. He was a god at the time and they would have done anything he said.Nothing to do with Maggie.

[dot.hawkes]

the miners strike I remember was about 1973 wasn't it when we had a three day week? Or am i confused. was that a fuel strike?

[shaneystar2]

They went on strike because the National Coal Board were closing the mines putting thousands of men out of work .They wanted to privatise the coal industry and Maggie wanted to bring down the unions .Her being a woman PM is neither here nor there. She just wanted to privatise anything she could lay her hands on.This all happened in 1984...85.


Causes and outcome outlined here

[Octavius]

Rubbish.

As said, it was a strike against job losses through pit closures and against the suppression of over zealous and corrupt union leaders, not emasculation. It became cheaper to close the mines and import coal from abroad, leading to mass unemployment in the UK.

Until that time, the unions had the power to hold the country to ransom (much like the train strikes we have these days).

[paddywak]

The strike of 1972 (the first national strike in the industry since 1926) lasted from 9th Jan to 28th feb and was over pay it was eventuall settled after the board increased there offer after picketing had proved effective and because of public support. The 74 strike was again over pay and started on the 9th Feb. Ted Heath the conservative PM eventually instituted the 3 day working week and confident the country would support him called a general election in which he was defeated and the strike was settled when the new government offered an increased pay package plus several improvements to compensation schemes. The main differences between these two strikes and the 84-85 strike was that they were called as a result of a national ballot of the NUM as result the Union was united. Scargill thought he could achieve the same results
without due process and as a result split the union and allowed Maggie to get what she wanted, the end of union power and the destruction of the coal industry

[Loosehead]

Nothing to do with gender. The miners where led by an idiot who allowed MrsT to stock up on coal and then let her goad him into a strike at the start of spring. Up to then coal strikes had always been when the country most needed coal and where hence over much quicker. As mention above the NCB did want to clos inneficient pits, but Unions being what they are never can grasp the economics of the situation. At the time it was costing more to mine than you could sell it for. A GCSE student coul have worked out that that was not sustainable. They where correct that pits would be closing but that was an economic necessity.

[poolger]

Thanks for the replies, I directed my friend to read them, he realises now that he is talking garbage but still maintains that if it had nothing to do with Maggie then why all the hostility towards her in regards to the strike simply because she wanted to privitise them.

[Loosehead]

It had a lot to do with Maggie, but nothing to do with Maggie being a woman!

[MrsT]

wow I'm getting a lot of action today. I'm flatterred you all remember me, I wish I could come back and play again but you see the old Ferrous material is oxidising a bit these days!

ahhh memories! I really enjoyed that scrap with Arthur, what a lightweight he turned out to be!

[paddywak]

Scargill an extreme leftist wanted to outdo Joe Gormley who led the miners in 72 & 74 and who Scargill was rumoured to despise for his moderate views, consequently he would have gone up against the tory party no matter who was in charge at the first chance he had. Thatcher had been quite open in stating that she would do her best to ensure that no union or group of people would never again be in a position to bring down a government. Two pig-headed people in opposition causing a situation which would never have risen to the level it did if the leadership of both parties had been less extreme and more flexible in their views

[Bev2007]

Perhaps the hostility towards Maggie is because she put nothing in place for when she had 'successfully' defeated the strike and closed lots of pits. No replacement jobs and whole communities were indeed destroyed, its not a cliche.

So yes, she closed inefficient mines, gave out a load of redundancy handouts and then paid people benefits just to be able to feed and house themselves. I'd like to see the cost:benefit calculation on that one, now we have an inadequate indiginous energy supply.....

[paddywak]

Bev2007your user name wouldn't happen to be a clock number for a certain colliery would it? because if it is I could be Bev2129

[Bev2007]

Fraid not Paddy, but I have spent lots of (too much) time at UKC HQ which taught me alot (too much) about this industry!

[paddywak]

Thanks for the answer Bev it was just a thought