Caoimhin O’Muraile ☭ seeks to dispel the myth which in the eyes of many still exists that the NUM should have held a national ballot during the year-long pit strike of 1984/85. 

There was no need for a ballot and even if the leadership of Arthur Scargill, Peter Heathfield and Mick McGahey had wanted a ballot there was no way they could have forced one through as the delegates from every coalfield, including those which cried out for a ballot, voted against such a vote and opted for the implementation of Rule 41 of the union's rule book.

All the same the Nottinghamshire area and a minority of pits continued working and, coupled with a mild winter, proved sufficient to keep the power stations running, albeit at a reduced capacity. A harsh winter may have been a decisive factor but that was not to be. The fact that the ballot claim had been given a fair and democratic hearing by the Delegates Conference and rejected did not appear to bother the majority of the working miners - democracy only applies when it goes their way it would seem!

Although the fact that a large coalfield like Nottinghamshire was working, which was a major factor in the honourable defeat of the NUM, there are other factors which came into play. The failure of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to support the miners, thus leaving them, not for the first time, to fight alone did not help. And the weakness of the Welsh Windbag, Labour Party Leader Neil Kinnock, to fight the Iron Lady (a name afforded to Thatcher by the Soviet paper, Pravda) suggests the leader of the opposition was frightened shitless of her. 

The support of the Labour opposition would have been encouraging to say the least and some individual Labour MPs did back the miners. People like the late Tony Benn for example and Denis Skinner were behind the NUM as were, in the world of sport, football managers Jack Charlton and Brian Clough, both of whom lent their cars out to men on strike. Individual trade unionists supported the NUM as did individual trade union leaders like Ron Todd of the giant Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), my own union at the time. I can recall Todd’s address to the 1984 TUC Conference; ‘I want a Labour government, I want a socialist government, but not at the expense of the National Union of Mineworkers.’ This speech was in response to those who claimed the miner’s strike was damaging Labour's electoral chances! With Kinnock at the helm, I’m sure such crass claims caused the NUM no end of indecision!! All the above contributed greatly, along with the British states national fascist police force which enforced curfews in mining areas, to the defeat of the NUM. However, all these factors pale into insignificance compared with the betrayal by the leadership of the Pit Deputies union, N.A.C.O.D.S. (National Association of Colliery Overseers, Deputies and Shotfirers).

In the autumn of 1984 Ian MacGregor, National Coal Board (NCB) Chairman, began insisting NACODS men cross NUM picket lines. This was foreign to the small but powerful union's policy and they refused. For the first time Thatcher was worried because if the Deputies came out on strike under the law of the time every pit, scabs or no scabs, would have closed. No coal mine could operate or even open for business unless a deputy was present. This was under Health and Safety legislation and because of this Thatcher was worried. She berated her henchman, MacGregor, for antagonising the union into holding a ballot for strike action. 

In the autumn of 1984 such a ballot of NACODS members produced a mandate of ‘around 83 per cent in favour of strike action. This was a potential strike winner. This was a huge mandate for action and the date October 25th 1984 was the date pencilled in for the strike to commence.' (Striking Similarities Kevin Morley P. 184). What followed was shameful by the union’s leadership, a disgrace. Many deputies realised also that if the coal mines closed there would be no need for a Deputy and the order by MacGregor to cross NUM picket lines was not the only factor of concern to the pit deputies. Their jobs would also go! NACODS President, Ken Sampey betrayed the NUM more so than did the TUC, the Labour Party Leader or even the Nottinghamshire scabs. 

If the vote for strike action had been implemented then it would have been sufficient to save pits and jobs, including the NACODS' members jobs! Following the strike ballot result, over 80%, ACAS (Advisory Conciliation Arbitration Service) invited the NCB, NUM and NACODS to a meeting, to see if there could be a negotiated settlement. This was the first time any moves by management, be it government or Coal Board, at conciliation had been made. After futile discussions with the NCB, the NUM and NACODS held separate meetings and agreed a joint proposal outlining their final position. This proposal was submitted to the NCB with a copy to ACAS. It would have settled the strike and stopped all pit closures, other than on safety grounds or exhaustion of coal reserves. It was emphasised that if the NCB did not accept the joint proposal, the NACODS strike would proceed as mandated. Management agreed to consider the proposal and attend a reconvened meeting with ACAS within a few days. On the eve of this reconvened meeting the NACODS leadership reneged on its agreement with the NUM (it also reneged on the mandate given by their own members) and had decided to put forward a proposal for an “independent” non-binding element into the colliery review procedure. This was a long-standing review body which looked at pit closures usually due to exhaustion of reserves.  And if this proved acceptable to the NCB the deputies would call off their strike action.

No explanation was given for this U-turn, in which Ken Sampey played a leading role. The NACODS decision, like all sell outs, was shameful, with terrible historical consequences, leading as it did to the destruction of Britain’s mining industry and the severe weakening of the trade union movement as a whole. This was the leading factor in the defeat of the NUM overriding all others including the scabbing and betrayals by most Nottinghamshire miners and the TUC and Labour Party leaderships. 

It can only be imagined, the joy on Thatcher’s visage at this blatant betrayal by the NACODS leadership and Sampey in particular of their members jobs, stabbing the NUM in the back and betraying the whole trade union movement. They had not even given their own membership a ballot on whether they accepted this meaningless “non-binding” element which she, Thatcher, would ignore, and whether they actually wanted to call off their action. No, the members were given no say. Sampey had sold the entire trade union movement down the river! How is this? Simple, to take on and defeat the trade unions the NUM had to be beaten. Without this meaningless element, which NACODS leaders had signed up to, the NUM would have won and Thatcher’s assault on the unions could not have taken place. 

On the back of the miner’s defeat Thatcher forced the opposition Labour Party to move further rightwards, culminating in Tony Blairs leadership and the launch of “new Labour”. Thatcher is on record as saying; ‘new Labour is my greatest achievement’. In her memoirs she said ‘I could not understand why NACODS settled so easily.’ She must have been jumping for joy at the way Sampey caved in, just by inserting a meaningless “non-binding element” into the colliery review, which she and the NCB had already ignored over the closure of the four pits mentioned earlier (last week). It was the NACODS' leadership who won the battle for Thatcher making the way clear for her to win the war with the trade union movement. 

Yes, it is true cowardice by many union bosses and refusing to fight did not help, but this environment of fear was created by the defeat of the miners, a defeat very much avoidable if the deputies' leaders had abided by their members wishes. Noticeable to see that all the shouting over a national ballot earlier in the strike was not repeated when the NACODS membership were not given a ballot on this shameful stab in the back of the NUM.

Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent 
Socialist Republican and Marxist

The 1984/85 British Coal Miners' Strike ✏ NACODS

Caoimhin O’Muraile ☭ seeks to dispel the myth which in the eyes of many still exists that the NUM should have held a national ballot during the year-long pit strike of 1984/85. 

There was no need for a ballot and even if the leadership of Arthur Scargill, Peter Heathfield and Mick McGahey had wanted a ballot there was no way they could have forced one through as the delegates from every coalfield, including those which cried out for a ballot, voted against such a vote and opted for the implementation of Rule 41 of the union's rule book.

All the same the Nottinghamshire area and a minority of pits continued working and, coupled with a mild winter, proved sufficient to keep the power stations running, albeit at a reduced capacity. A harsh winter may have been a decisive factor but that was not to be. The fact that the ballot claim had been given a fair and democratic hearing by the Delegates Conference and rejected did not appear to bother the majority of the working miners - democracy only applies when it goes their way it would seem!

Although the fact that a large coalfield like Nottinghamshire was working, which was a major factor in the honourable defeat of the NUM, there are other factors which came into play. The failure of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to support the miners, thus leaving them, not for the first time, to fight alone did not help. And the weakness of the Welsh Windbag, Labour Party Leader Neil Kinnock, to fight the Iron Lady (a name afforded to Thatcher by the Soviet paper, Pravda) suggests the leader of the opposition was frightened shitless of her. 

The support of the Labour opposition would have been encouraging to say the least and some individual Labour MPs did back the miners. People like the late Tony Benn for example and Denis Skinner were behind the NUM as were, in the world of sport, football managers Jack Charlton and Brian Clough, both of whom lent their cars out to men on strike. Individual trade unionists supported the NUM as did individual trade union leaders like Ron Todd of the giant Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), my own union at the time. I can recall Todd’s address to the 1984 TUC Conference; ‘I want a Labour government, I want a socialist government, but not at the expense of the National Union of Mineworkers.’ This speech was in response to those who claimed the miner’s strike was damaging Labour's electoral chances! With Kinnock at the helm, I’m sure such crass claims caused the NUM no end of indecision!! All the above contributed greatly, along with the British states national fascist police force which enforced curfews in mining areas, to the defeat of the NUM. However, all these factors pale into insignificance compared with the betrayal by the leadership of the Pit Deputies union, N.A.C.O.D.S. (National Association of Colliery Overseers, Deputies and Shotfirers).

In the autumn of 1984 Ian MacGregor, National Coal Board (NCB) Chairman, began insisting NACODS men cross NUM picket lines. This was foreign to the small but powerful union's policy and they refused. For the first time Thatcher was worried because if the Deputies came out on strike under the law of the time every pit, scabs or no scabs, would have closed. No coal mine could operate or even open for business unless a deputy was present. This was under Health and Safety legislation and because of this Thatcher was worried. She berated her henchman, MacGregor, for antagonising the union into holding a ballot for strike action. 

In the autumn of 1984 such a ballot of NACODS members produced a mandate of ‘around 83 per cent in favour of strike action. This was a potential strike winner. This was a huge mandate for action and the date October 25th 1984 was the date pencilled in for the strike to commence.' (Striking Similarities Kevin Morley P. 184). What followed was shameful by the union’s leadership, a disgrace. Many deputies realised also that if the coal mines closed there would be no need for a Deputy and the order by MacGregor to cross NUM picket lines was not the only factor of concern to the pit deputies. Their jobs would also go! NACODS President, Ken Sampey betrayed the NUM more so than did the TUC, the Labour Party Leader or even the Nottinghamshire scabs. 

If the vote for strike action had been implemented then it would have been sufficient to save pits and jobs, including the NACODS' members jobs! Following the strike ballot result, over 80%, ACAS (Advisory Conciliation Arbitration Service) invited the NCB, NUM and NACODS to a meeting, to see if there could be a negotiated settlement. This was the first time any moves by management, be it government or Coal Board, at conciliation had been made. After futile discussions with the NCB, the NUM and NACODS held separate meetings and agreed a joint proposal outlining their final position. This proposal was submitted to the NCB with a copy to ACAS. It would have settled the strike and stopped all pit closures, other than on safety grounds or exhaustion of coal reserves. It was emphasised that if the NCB did not accept the joint proposal, the NACODS strike would proceed as mandated. Management agreed to consider the proposal and attend a reconvened meeting with ACAS within a few days. On the eve of this reconvened meeting the NACODS leadership reneged on its agreement with the NUM (it also reneged on the mandate given by their own members) and had decided to put forward a proposal for an “independent” non-binding element into the colliery review procedure. This was a long-standing review body which looked at pit closures usually due to exhaustion of reserves.  And if this proved acceptable to the NCB the deputies would call off their strike action.

No explanation was given for this U-turn, in which Ken Sampey played a leading role. The NACODS decision, like all sell outs, was shameful, with terrible historical consequences, leading as it did to the destruction of Britain’s mining industry and the severe weakening of the trade union movement as a whole. This was the leading factor in the defeat of the NUM overriding all others including the scabbing and betrayals by most Nottinghamshire miners and the TUC and Labour Party leaderships. 

It can only be imagined, the joy on Thatcher’s visage at this blatant betrayal by the NACODS leadership and Sampey in particular of their members jobs, stabbing the NUM in the back and betraying the whole trade union movement. They had not even given their own membership a ballot on whether they accepted this meaningless “non-binding” element which she, Thatcher, would ignore, and whether they actually wanted to call off their action. No, the members were given no say. Sampey had sold the entire trade union movement down the river! How is this? Simple, to take on and defeat the trade unions the NUM had to be beaten. Without this meaningless element, which NACODS leaders had signed up to, the NUM would have won and Thatcher’s assault on the unions could not have taken place. 

On the back of the miner’s defeat Thatcher forced the opposition Labour Party to move further rightwards, culminating in Tony Blairs leadership and the launch of “new Labour”. Thatcher is on record as saying; ‘new Labour is my greatest achievement’. In her memoirs she said ‘I could not understand why NACODS settled so easily.’ She must have been jumping for joy at the way Sampey caved in, just by inserting a meaningless “non-binding element” into the colliery review, which she and the NCB had already ignored over the closure of the four pits mentioned earlier (last week). It was the NACODS' leadership who won the battle for Thatcher making the way clear for her to win the war with the trade union movement. 

Yes, it is true cowardice by many union bosses and refusing to fight did not help, but this environment of fear was created by the defeat of the miners, a defeat very much avoidable if the deputies' leaders had abided by their members wishes. Noticeable to see that all the shouting over a national ballot earlier in the strike was not repeated when the NACODS membership were not given a ballot on this shameful stab in the back of the NUM.

Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent 
Socialist Republican and Marxist

4 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying these articles.

    GB84 by David Pearce is a stunning novel based in this era.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must get that on the to read list Brandon. Getting time to actually read it is another matter!

      Delete
  2. Must read it Brandon, the title itself
    Gives a suggestion of life at the time.

    Caoimhin O'Muraile

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great series Caoimhin but I am still of a mind that democracy rather than bureaucracy should determine strike action. I still see no reason for not having a system in place that allows each union member an equal say on strike action.

    ReplyDelete