Thatcherism - The Miners' Strike, 1984 (Assessment) Flashcards
The biggest union confrontation of the Thatcher years was the year-long strike of the miners in 1984. Ever the pragmatist, Thatcher had backed away from confrontation in 1981 when advised that coal stocks were not high enough. After that, Thatcher made sure that stocks at the power stations were built up and when Arthur Scargill, the President of the National Union of ___________, called his men out without a ballot in the spring of 1984, Thatcher was ready.
The scene was set for an epic battle.
Mineworkers
On 1 March 1984, the National Coal Board (NCB) announced the intended closure of one of its uneconomic pits, Cortonwood. Scargill immediately called a strike - without a ballot - and on 12 March the strike began.
Many in the ___________ pits were reluctant to strike.
Nottinghamshire
Violence escalated through April and May up to a massive confrontation at the Orgreave Coke Works, where _,______ pickets fought a pitched battle with the police.
5,000
Talks to end the strike collapsed on 18 July and Thatcher, who felt a resounding and clear-cut victory was necessary, recalled in her autobiography:
I have to say that I was enormously relieved. It was crucial for the future of the industry and for the future of the country itself that the NUM’s claim that _________ pits should never be closed should be defeated, and be seen to be defeated, and the use of strikes for political purposes discredited once and for all.
Uneconomic
The big threat for the government and hope for the miners was that the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers (NACODS) would call a strike of their own.
However, October was to bring a series of hammer blows to Scargill and the NUM. On 10 October, the legislation that the Conservatives had introduced began to bear fruit when fines of £1,000 and £____,_____ were imposed on Scargill and the NUM respectively for contempt of court.
200,000
On 24 October, the _______ leaders announced that they would not strike.
NACODS
On 28 October the Sunday Times revealed that Scargill had been negotiating for funds with Colonel _______ of Libya.
Gaddafi
In April 1984 a British policewoman, PC ________, had been killed in St James’s Square by a gunshot from the Libyan embassy, and association with such a regime did not win the miners any friends.
Fletcher
In late December, the chairman of the _________ Board was able to announce that they would get through the winter without any power cuts.
Electricity
By mid-January 1985 there were more than 75,000 miners back at work.
On 27 February, more than half the miners were back, and on the 3 ______ the NUM executive committee voted to call off the strike.
March
The “enemy within”, as Thatcher referred to Scargill (General Galtieri in the Falklands War had been the “enemy without”) had been defeated.
A key element in the battle had been the creation of a central ______ co-ordination authority which could mobilize _______ forces from all over the country.
Police
It was estimated that the cost of the strike to the economy was £__ billion and extra public expenditure was £300 million.
2
The 1984 Act made the secret ballot a legal requirement (1) for the election of voting members to the executive council of the unions at intervals not greater than _____ years; (2) for all those who might be called on to take official industrial action; (3) for setting up or retaining an existing political fund.
Five
