and with stafa Scargill for President 150,000 jobs lost. . The first fightback occurred in 1969 when rank and file miner on unofficial strike in sup008120 2001I00 shorter hours for surface WOENCES Flying It was personally an illuminating with bus loads Yorkshire pickets trom stray from their arca. and desceno on the local pits The unofficial strike movement collapsed for the lack of leadership demonstrated to the Na. tional Executive Committee and the rest of Britain that the building up. Explode This pressure explodec in 1972 The massive con frontation with the Tories was a last gamble there was nothing left to lose Who can ever forget the mood of optimism and ex citement at the confronta power station in Britain? at Saltley COKL-UEPOI the ing of the strike the sound of pipes, and the sight of thousands of BirKEVIN BARRON from Maltby NUM a member of the Yorkshire executive committee of the NUM, interviewed by Socialist Challenge.
workers What do you think are the key issues in this election and why are you supporting believe that we have to the leadership which : only has collaborated with the Coal Board and devastated the mining industry. The leaders of the representative.
20 years have lost us half a million jobs through pit Do Yorkshire shows, unlike other Arthur Scargill's record in parisons that employment cannot just be maintained, that ship contest? il can be expandea. We've haa new pits in Yorkshire when other areas have had pits closins For example, in Maliby, we have (130m investment to sin! haven't had that investment in Expansion hasn't just been becaus other areas have membership? hem too, but because of deter mined opposition to closures.
Productivity Scheme which Scargill opposed has led payments throughout the industry, to the detriment of the majority of miners. Scargill's opposition to Scheme We still haven'? committee got early retirement for surface Socialist Challenge supplement November 1981 page III It was ordinary miners who led the way. This time the triple alliance break the miners weren't lett on thel owi and above all the sense of dignity had been restored to the mining community, the bitter memories of 192 "From all sections of the organised class rose one voice - the voice of solidarity.
Contrast 1974 was an entirely dit By sharp CUULL OS ferent strike with the very future of the Tory government at stake. - IL WE. initially an quickly everyone came to realisc had been transformed into political strike.
However in parison with those heady" days of 1972, was much tamer affair. The TUC had accepted restric tive picketing and Joe cormicy was not now l his first year of presidency. was there, but the NEC and mass picketing was the exception the Heath called an election on who rules Britain and the working class gave its We are now the lowest paid coal miners in Europe, yer with the highest productivity The right wing's main candidate, clerical representative Trevor Bell, has never held office in the NUM, only the cierical sec tion. The other two candidates Scargill candubious as the clerica you see any com between the presidential election in the NUM and the deputy leader Certainly. The issues in th VUM elections can be paralle. ed to what is happening inside we wan. a leadership whose policies an determined by th economic rystem, or a leadership who. policies are determined by the One of the issues in the de puty leudership campaign ha been accountability. Ii's a majo issue in the NUM, and I'm sur with Arthur Scargill's election il will become u feature at national level, just as it is at area and local level. For example, a a local level in Yorkshire men and official. are elected every two years.
ocialist Challenge supplement November 1981 page IV DURING the miners' strike against pit closures February demands was for government restrictions on coal imports.
of tons imported. threatened by the flood of cheap foreign coal.
It seems simple, And the SOLEOI import controls — - looks obvious.
really so bur are tamass straightforward?
A quick glance at the recent history of the coal industry shows that LEREported coal is not the main inreat to miners Joos. In the 1960s. Britain was net exporter of coal. But in the same period the collicries fel TUDCOE South wales Inere miners; by 1969 the figure was 40,000 The millions of tons of coa on the stockplles. , are not caused by British coa. being replaced by imported coal. The real cause is lack of 'effective TOSL 'Millions of tons on the stockpiles; millions Coal subsidile the U.K. ere ELGIUM FRANCE GERMANY The big weakness IporL controls that they are based on class The demand for import controls assumes that the most im0014384 question is паBy Mick Kelly