The Miners Strike + Other Industrial Disputes

Question 1

What unions did thatchers economic policies around hostility from?

Answer 1

-public sector workers like COHSE + NUPE who became more militant along with teachers unions
-lengthy dispute over working conditions

Question 2

What new laws constrained the role of the unions?

Answer 2

-1980 secondary picketing outlawed
-1984 unions put under pressure hold ballots before strike action called

Question 3

What was the role of Rupert Murdoch?

Answer 3

-newspaper proprietor led by Australian press baron Murdoch tried reduced power of print unions
-major confrontational at Murdoch’s Wapping plant Jan 1986

Question 4

What was the outcome?

Answer 4

-print unions failed prevent publication or distribution of any newspaper s
-the strike collapsed after 13 months

Question 5

What was the worst struggle in terms of strikes?

Answer 5

-the miners strike 1984-85
-thatcher compared Falklands conflict with striking miners as ‘the enemy within’

Question 6

What happened in 1981 regarding the miners which began the tensions?

Answer 6

-1981 National Coal Board warned need close 23 pits

Question 7

How did the gov react to this?

Answer 7

-gov not felt ready for return events of 1973-74 + compromised reducing amount of coal imported protecting the subsidy to NCB
-thus preventing the closures

Question 8

How did the gov in 1984 seem prepared + confident?

Answer 8

-huge stocks of coal built up at power stations
-flow of North Sea oil made it less likely an energy crisis as in 1973

Question 9

What did the NCB announce in 1984?

Answer 9

-McGreggor chairman of NCB announced need to close 20 pits
-but Scargill the pres of NUM claimed seen secret plan to close 70 pits but McGreggor denied this

Question 10

What did Scargill do regarding this?

Answer 10

-was a charismatic leader but failed gain total support for national strike
-refusal hold strike ballot weakened his case + failed overcome historical regional divisions among miners

Question 11

What was the Union of Democratic miners?

Answer 11

-Nottinghamshire miners formed breakaway union - Union of Dem miners

Question 12

What did this new union lead to?

Answer 12

-bitter recriminations
-scargilites accused UDM being ‘scabs’ + ‘traitors’
-UDM accused Scargill caring more about hard-left politics than interests of miners was leading

Question 13

What was one key factor during the miners strike?

Answer 13

-the role of the police

Question 14

What was this new role played by police?

Answer 14

-they had better equipment
-more experience of riot control
-better tactics

Question 15

What did critics say about this new role of the police?

Answer 15

-thatchers critics blamed her for politicisation of police
-claimed police used to defeat miners + not be impartial protectors of law + order

Question 16

What was the most famous battle between the miners and the police?

Answer 16

-the battle of Orgreave

Question 17

When was the battle of oregreave?

Answer 17

-June 1984 mass picket of coke plant at oregreave South Yorkshire by 5000 miners

Question 18

How did the police react?

Answer 18

-faced by up to 8000 police
-series of violent confrontations

Question 19

What happened during the battle?

Answer 19

-50+ picketers incl. Scargill + 70+ police injured
-resulted in a long-lasting controversy over accusations of police brutality

Question 20

What was the outcome for the police?

Answer 20

-1991 South Yorkshire police forced to pay compensations

Question 21

What was the outcome for the miners?

Answer 21

-immediate outcome was defeat for the NUM as lorries kept rolling in + out of oregreave

Question 22

What was a factor in the defeat of the NUM?

Answer 22

-Scargill himself

Question 23

How did Scargill aid in the NUM’s defeat?

Answer 23

-alienated moderates - never got support of lab leadership
-Thatcher + allies in press demonised Scargill as a dangerous rev challenging dem elected gov

Question 24

What did Kinnock comment about Scargill?

Answer 24

-‘the miners didn’t deserve him’
-‘they deserved much, much better’

Question 25

What were the last months of the strike like?

Answer 25

-last months of strike were demoralising
-steady drift back to work while hard core strikers determined stick out to end

Question 26

What was the outcome of Scargill campaign?

Answer 26

-Scargill campaign prevent pit closures utter failure
-1979 coal ind employed 200k by 1990 down to 60k + falling

Question 27

What happened to the power of the unions?

Answer 27

-dramatically decreased
-1990 total union membership 2/3 of what it was 1979
-other state inds like Br Steel + Br airways reorganised with massive job losses

Question 28

How did Thatcherites view the defeat of the strike?

Answer 28

-a defining moment of Thatcherism
-Tebbit 1988 wrote ‘had thatcher gov been broken + craven Kinnock been installed in office by Scargill’s thugs Br have been a grim place’

Question 29

What was coal like under heath 1970-74?

Answer 29

-gov v TUs - increased power to unions repeated pay demands
-impact - strikes ‘72 + ‘74, stoppages to public services, inflation
-country wide power cuts, three day week, blackouts

Question 30

What was coal like under thatcher 1979-84?

Answer 30

-1979 cons manifesto pledges bring TUs under gov legislation
-Tebbit - anti-strike legislation + police to break up picketing
-commitment monetarism + cuts public spending
-no subsidies to failing business ‘lame ducks’ + no gov bailouts