THE 1972 miners' strike was one of the most class victories in Britain. was the start of two years of struggle which destroyed the Heath government. Learning the lessons of this struggle is organising any fight against Thatcher today.
The strike began amid defeats. In early 1971 the Tories had scored a major vIctory thoroughly defeating a seven-week strike by the postal workers. The government's wage policy that each maior settlement must be l ner cent lower than the last was holding firm.
But Heath still faced the major problem that victories in the public sector were not nearly enough. The employers reverse the tremendous decline in the rate of profit in British industry by inflicting major defeats on the industrial unions.
Here the government had a much tougher fight on its hands. In 1971 the Ford workers had wared a mator strike against the company. and workers at Upper Clyde occupied the yards against government had to take on and defeat a major group of industrial workers to impose its economic policies. It chose to confront the miners.
Confidence Preparation by the strike was intensive. were built up. The City of London Newspaper wrote: Months before the coal strike started, ministers were saying in private government would establish inflation". policy by a resounding victory over the miners.
The Times expressed the confidence of the government and employers: "Coalstocks away from the pits are large enough to withstand a strike for weeks, if it does not spread, with marginal disruption to industry and commerce as a whole.' These words 'if it does not spread' were to be the key to the whole strike.
Sympathy Certainly the TUC did nothing to help the miners. It refused to call a meeting of transport unions to organise solidarity with the strike. The seamen's union, asked to import of coal, said it was sympathetic but it must be remembered that our members are on articies une regulations Shipping Act) when on board ship and they cannot break these'.
Worst of all, the EETPU and the GMWU agreed pay deals for the power workers just as the miners' strike was getting under way.
There was enormous smoathy for the NUM in the working class, blocked bv the union leaderships. The decisive question was whether the miners would wage a. struggle determined enough to rally working class support against the sabotage of the TUC.
Right from the start the government did everything possible to isolate the miners and break the strike. It cut down power supplies to impose hardship on the rest of the working class and try to turn Inem against the miners policy it was to use again in 1974 with the three day week. The press went on about how the miners were making everybody suffer.
The government's attempts to break the strike were not confined to propaganda. The employers and the state used the toughest possible measures.
Injuries At Dover scab lorry drivers, iron bars, were paid f20 a day to drive through the picket lines At Grimethorpe three miners were injured when a scab lorry driver smashed his lorry through a picket line. At the firm of T.Simpson a picket had his foot crushed and another was injured by a scab wielding a meat HOOK.
The police and the law openly collaborated with the scabs and the employers. newspaper photograph of a iron bar was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions he wrote back:
It would be necessary for the prosecution to prove that the truck driver carried the bai with the intention of using it to injure. therefore he was merely holding it so as to cause. the pickets to move away from his truck so that he could drive away without danger to himself or anyone else, I do not consider that an offence would be established. propose to take any action in the matter.' Respectable Faced with these vicious ruling class attacks the situation was very clear. would go beyond any of the forms of struggle used since the war or it would be smashed.
But the NUM leaders held back. Gormley was very careful to say how 'respectable' the He told the Morning Star in December 1971: 'If we are forced to strike from Shipbuilders had closure. The government for the Enormous coal stocks that the their boycott the the Merchant but it was being - a armed with When a scab wielding an If not therefore of the last war... fuel was in short supply.' Either the strike 9 January it will be the first official dispute of the NUM since it was formed towards the end We did not rock the boat when The desire to be respectable also came up in the first key choice of the strike safety men should come out. When they did in most pits this was attacked by Gormley. He told The Times: "The men are being a damn sight more militant than we would want them to be. across the country. Blockade down.
pickets. The government had calculated that the miners would just picket the pits. The TUC refused to call for a boycott of coal and simply said that union members should refuse to cross picket lines. There must have been a few wry smiles pulled at the General Council of the TUC over this.
With 31 million tons of coal stored away from the mines, what did it matter if drivers could not reach any pit-head stockpiles? If the had followed the normal strike procedure of merely picketing their places of work the agreement not to cross picket lines But if there was no point in placing pickets on the pits, the answer was to take the pickets to the workers. The mass pickets began to spread