Miner's Strike 1984-1985 (6 marzo 1984 anni – 3 marzo 1985 anni)

Descrizione:

On the 3rd March 1984, the National Coal Board (NCB) announced for 20 pits to be closed down, resulting in 200,000 lost jobs.
On the 12th March, the president of the National Union of Miners (NUM), Arthur Scargill, called for a national strike against the closures of the pits.
Scargill was met support around the nation, from South Wales, Scotland and Durham.

A series of strikes and picketing followed, resulting in tension within the police, most notably the Battle of Orgreave which resulted in 50 strikers and 70 police officers being injured.
There was support within the striking company such as the Women's Action Groups providing food for the miners.

Despite the NUM's efforts many strikers were going back to work due to economic struggles. On 6th March 1985, the NUM voted 98-91 to go back to work.

The failures of the miner strikes was due to many reasons:

Lack of Support:
Neil Kinnock, Leader of the Labour Party, appeared to be on the fence with the problems of the miner strikes, criticising the police and picketing.
Strikers in Nottingham unionized under the Union of Democratic Miners as they were least anxious about their future as they were the best paid miners in the country. Scargill called them "scabs"- name given to strikers who went back to work.

Thatcher:
The Employment Acts were already set in stone and gave NUM a disadvantage,
After the success of the Falklands War, Thatcher was determined to fight "The enemy within",
Coal had been stocked up due to the North Sea Oil. An energy crisis was not a worry.

Scargill:
The strike was technically illegal as Scargill did not create a ballot with the NUM members which weakened support,
Scargill stroke during the Summer whilst successful strikes such as the ones in 1975 stroke in the winter when coal was needed.

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