Miners’ Strike begins

The Miners’ Strike of 1984-85 was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. The strike by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was led by Arthur Scargill. At its height, the strike involved 142,000 mineworkers, making it the largest since the 1926 General Strike. The coal industry in the UK, nationalised by Clement Attlee’s Labour government in 1947, was encouraged to gear itself toward reduced subsidies in the early 1980s under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. After a narrowly averted strike in February 1981, a series of pit closures and pay restraint led to a series of strike ballots and unofficial strikes. The 1984–85 strike is usually dated as beginning on 6 March 1984 with a walkout at Cortonwood Colliery in Brampton Bierlow, South Yorkshire, which led the Yorkshire Area of the NUM to call an official strike.

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This post was written by hm