87 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
87 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
The **British Miners' Strike of 1972** was a nationwide (although not
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[general](General_Strike "wikilink"))
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[strike](List_of_Strikes "wikilink") by coal miners across the [United
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Kingdom](United_Kingdom "wikilink") in protest of low wages.
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## Background
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The strike occurred after wage negotiations between the unions and coal
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industry had broken down. It was the first time since
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[1926](British_General_Strike_\(1926\) "wikilink") that British miners
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had officially gone on strike (although there had been unofficial
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strikes, as recently as 1969). Additionally, job security had been
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undermined as coal mines were shut down throughout the 1960s.
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## Events
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The strike began in early January, with miners sending
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[pickets](Picketing "wikilink") across their mines and asking for
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solidarity strikes (which railworkers and power station workers agreed
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to). Power shortages emerged, and a state of emergency was declared on 9
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February, after the weather had turned cold unexpectedly and voltage had
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been reduced across the entire national grid.
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A miner from Hatfield Colliery, near Doncaster, Freddie Matthews, was
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killed by a lorry while he was picketing on 3 February 1972, and a huge
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crowd attended his funeral.<sup>\[10\]</sup> The non-union lorry driver
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had mounted the pavement to pass the picket line and struck Matthews in
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the process.<sup>\[11\]</sup> In the aftermath of the death, the
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picketing in the Doncaster area became more violent, with clashes
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reported with the NACODS members at Markham Main and
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Kilnhurst.<sup>\[11\]</sup> Tom Swain, Labour MP to Derbyshire North
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East, remarked, "This could be the start of another Ulster in the
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Yorkshire coalfield."<sup>\[11\]</sup> He threatened to "advocate
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violence" if an immediate government statement were not made on
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Matthews's death.<sup>\[11\]</sup>
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The strike lasted seven weeks and ended after miners agreed to a pay
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offer on 19 February.<sup>\[12\]</sup> The offer came after the Battle
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of Saltley Gate, when around 2,000 NUM pickets descended on a coke works
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in Birmingham and were later joined by thousands of workers from other
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industries in Birmingham.<sup>\[13\]</sup>
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The result was characterised as a "victory for violence" by the
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Conservative Cabinet at the time, in reference to some clashes between
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miners and police and to some throwing of stones and bottles at lorries
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trying to pass the pickets.<sup>\[14\]</sup>
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## Planned strikebreaking force
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A volunteer force was planned in Scotland to break the miners' pickets
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during the strike. After release of government papers under the
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thirty-year rule, it has been revealed that civil servants, police,
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local authorities and other organisations worked on a secret project to
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gather hundreds of drivers to supply the country's power stations during
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the strike.<sup>\[15\]</sup>
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A Royal Air Force base was to be used for the unit.<sup>\[15\]</sup>
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They were to have between 400 and 600 trucks and
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drivers.<sup>\[15\]</sup> Fire brigades were also contacted to provide
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off-duty staff and volunteer groups to cater for the coal
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convoys.<sup>\[15\]</sup> The role of the volunteers was to drive in
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convoys to break the picketlines blocking the supply of coal to the
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Scottish power plants.<sup>\[15\]</sup> The plans were never put into
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the place because the dispute was brought to a close.<sup>\[15\]</sup>
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## Wilberforce Inquiry
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An inquiry into miners' pay, chaired by Lord Wilberforce, was set up by
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the government in February 1972, as the strike was drawing to a close.
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It reported a week later. It recommended pay increases of between £4.50
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and £6 per week.<sup>\[16\]</sup> Lord Wilberforce defended the
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increases, which represented a 27% pay rise,<sup>\[17\]</sup> by saying
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that "we know of no other job in which there is such a combination of
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danger, health hazard, discomfort in working conditions, social
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inconvenience and community isolation."<sup>\[16\]</sup> Mine workers
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held out for an extra £1 per week, but eventually settled for a package
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of "fringe benefits" worth a total of £10 million.<sup>\[17\]</sup>
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## Creation of COBR
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The inadequacy of the government's response to the strike provoked
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re-evaluation of emergency planning. The Cabinet Office Briefing Room
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(known as COBR) was created to coordinate responses to national and
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regional crises, and is still used in British Government
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today.<sup>\[18\]</sup>
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