Why its important to remember the miners strike 40 years on
March 4th marks the anniversary of the 1984/5 miners strike when miners walked out at Cortonwood colliery.
Unlike the strikes of 1972 and 1974 it ended in defeat and pit closures compounded in 1992. The Thatcher Government fought a decisive battle in the class war and won.
It deserves to be remembered above all because it was an important episode in British history. There is a lot to remember.
I was active as a supporter in the strike in the Durham coalfield at Easington and in London support groups, geographically in North London and industrially- I ran a London Telecoms Miners Support Group
I may recount those probably unreliable memories during the year but at the moment I’m looking at some of the key aspects of the strike.
The role of the State in trying to break the strike- Orgreave symbolises this but there is much else
Moments when the strike might have been won- when dockers struck in the summer of 1984
How well the Tories and how well the labour movement had prepared for the strike
The important role of support groups and in particular women’s support groups and lesbians and gays support the miners
The impact the strike had in working class areas
There are many other questions. There was a fair bit of research after the end of the strike and there has been more on the 40th anniversary.
Remembering and recording that history is important but so also is looking at historical lessons on issues like the role of the State and how the working class is organised that go well beyond the Great Strike itself
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