Published: Wednesday, 14th March, 2007 14:56
MINERS STRIKE REMEMBERED
By Cumnock Chronicle Newsroom
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The Chronicle website continues its look at the Miners' Strike of 1984.
AS Christmas approached additional pressures were soon put upon striking families. Rent arrears, although a concern, had been alleviated by Strathclyde Regional Council who vowed that “no miner will be evicted for rent or rates arrears” and rebates were made until the end of the strike.
They also put up £10,000 for the miners relief fund and local councillors paid for the children to see Mother Goose pantomime at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr.
The relief fund made sure that the children had the best possible Christmas they could have. And there was still enough money in the pot to give the adults a night to join together to celebrate their survival through adversity.
But on the picket front, the numbers were again dwindling. NUM officials blamed intimation and bribery from the NCB who were actively trying to persuade working miners to recruit more from the rank of the strikers.
By the January the following year, tensions reached critical mass. The men began to feel their 10 month battle slipping away from them as the NCB publicised a 30% return to work. This threw fuel onto an already blazing flame.
1500 men formed a human wall outside the gates of Killoch in an attempt to halt the growing number of buses breaking the picket. A sea of black figures formed a barricade of police officers, pinning in the miners at both sides of the gates.
The tide of feelings were running high. 12 men were arrested during the struggle and days later the NCB were gloating as they took out adverts announcing a 50% return to work.
The fight was being ripped out of the miners. The long and waring campaign was ebbing away. More and more men feeling broken and beaten walked back into the pits.
And on Wednesday March 5 the remaining men, demoralised, voted to go back to work without any concessions being achieved.
Chronicles lined shop shelves all over the district with a hollow headline “It’s All Over”.
On April 11, it was for the men at Lugar Workshops who received a redundancy note in their pay packet.
And within three years, it was the same story for the rest as Scargill’s prophecy became a bitter reality.
The fight which saw sentiments of strength, unity and support emerge all around had ended without any real winners.
NUM leader Albert Wheeler denied amnesty for the sacked miners and the deep mines would soon become a part of a troubled history.
The men who stuck out the strike to the bitter end, earned themselves a place in what was called the Tuesday Boys Club and the badge the 400 men received as a result is still treasured to this day.
This article first appeared in the Cumnock Chronicle March 19, 2004
Us the pic of Scargill along with this
“We did what we had to do and lost”
ALTHOUGH there was a clear divide between those working and those striking, the support from all communities was unprecedented.
Shop tills were already hit hard as families and those in the industries supporting miners, struggled to make ends meet. But this did not stop the continual selfless gestures and generosity. People handed over their last penny with overwhelming pride and whole-hearted support.
Meats, fruit and vegetables were all given free to the soup kitchens operated throughout the district.
Vans filled with food and clothing were donated from organisations all over Scotland, including ethnic minority associations in Glasgow.
In some of the most heart-warming moments in the strike’s history, pensioners and those on the breadline themselves brought tins of food out of their own cupboards and never stopping putting their hand in their pocket.
These unfaltering demonstrations of solidarity still bring tears to the eyes of the men who witnessed it.
Neil Valentine, former Branch Delegate of the Scottish NUM Group 2 Craft Section, emotionally recalled: “I was based at the Miller Road Office during the strike and people would come in and out with donations.
“But I’ll never forget the day when an old pensioner, who could probably not afford to be giving a donation, walked into the office, opened her purse and shook it over the bucket until every last penny had come out.
“She had tears in her eyes, but never said a word just emptied her purse and left.
“I can’t look back on that day and what that woman did without crying myself. That showed me the level of support we had.”
The intensity of public backing grew stronger with each passing month. Half way through the strike NUM president Arthur Scargill’s visit to Cumnock reignited the passion for the cause. Led by Scargill and Mick McGahey, 12,000 people marched through the streets waving banners and placards in the greatest scene of unity so far witnessed.
Neil Valentine took his place on the make-shift stage at Broomfield that day with the rallying cry “Our fight is your fight - and with your help we will win.”
He recalled: “Some people have said that the miners’ strike was a battle between two egos; Thatcher and Scargill, but to say that underminded the efforts of the miners.”
“It is usual in a great struggle that great leaders emerge. I am very proud of this area for the guys that came to the fore in every village were beyond comparison. They were magnificent and ably supported by the women.”
He continued: “But the trade union movement was fragmented. There were unions who came out in support and others who appeared to be actively working against us.
“The steel workers and transport workers were deficient. It was agreed that certain numbers of lorries of coal would be allowed in to keep Ravenscraig ticking over. But they were bringing in convoys of coal lorries, which was directly against the interest of the miners.
“The lack of support from the other unions meant we were not having the impact on the country that we really needed. The government had a war chest set aside and it seemed unlimited as it paid for policemen at treble time.
“Meanwhile the government were sequestering union funds and it finished up that money was distributed from a suitcase all over Europe trying keep it out of their hands. It was a big game with high level stakes. I definitely believe that full support from the trade union movement and political circles would have help us win our fight.
“SOMEONE SHOULD BE CALLED TO ANSWER TO WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS DISTRICT.”
Neil had started as a coal face miner at Barony at the age of 15 in 1954. He was given a change of an apprenticeship at the Lugar workshops where he remained until the very end.
Neil added: “When we went back to work after the strike it was only three weeks before we were issued our redundancy notices and that was it all over for us. A year of fighting, and it amounted to a date on a small piece of paper in a wage packet.
“It was a hard time, but I don’t regret a minute of it. We did what we had to do and lost. But it was others who lost it for us. The miners couldn’t have done more - they went to the limits of human endurance.
This article first appeared in the Cumnock Chronicle March 19, 2004
