Page 112 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

Mutual Aid 1984 Style

On Monday 12 March 1984, the most violent industrial
th
dispute in Britain of the 20th century began with the
1984-1985 12-month 'Miners' Strike' over pit closures.
Miners Strike
The miners’ strike of 1984-85 will always be
remembered in British working-class history as the
most significant turning point in the relationship
between the working-class organisations of the trade unions, and the state in
the late twentieth century.

Figure 45 1984-5 Miners Dispute

Over 1,000 collieries were operating in the UK during the first half of the 20th
century, but by 1984 only 173 were still working. Employment had dropped
from its peak of 1 million in 1922, down to 231,000 for the decade to 1982.
This long-term decline in coal production and employment was common
across the developed world. In the United States, employment in the coal-
mining industry continued to fall from 180,000 in 1985 to 70,000 in 2000.

By 1984, the richest seams of coal had been increasingly exhausted, and any
remaining coal was more and more expensive to reach. The solution was
mechanisation and greater efficiency per worker, making many miners
redundant due to overcapacity of production.
On 6 March 1984, the National Coal Board (NCB) announced 20 mines would
close with a loss of 20,000 jobs. Many communities in Northern England, Page112
Scotland and Wales would lose their primary source of employment.