Brexit: Labour movement debate, not talk with Tories! Shankland's and Hancock's life sentences for murder were reduced to eight years for manslaughter on appeal. [43] Marr, Andrew. [8] Nigel Lawson, who takes a clear mainstream media view on the Miners strike and even admits the left-wing majority on the NUM executive insisted, however dubiously, that Rule 43 of the union allowed for a strike without a ballot[9] showing that although many people didnt agree with it, including him, it was actually permissible. [14] Benn, Tony. If anyone of them has any cause for complaint they are simply showing the door because they have no unions to speak for to stand up for the rights of any working man or woman in this country. Some historians have provided interpretations and explanations of the defeat. RewriteEngine On Margaret Thatcher even described McGregor as lacking in guile as he was used to dealing with financial difficulties and hard bargaining and had no experience with dealing with trade union leaders[25]. Scargill never balloted NUM members for a strike; this was seen as an erosion of democracy within the union, but the role of ballots in decision-making had been made very unclear after previous leader, Joe Gormley, had ignored two ballots over wage reforms, and his decisions had been upheld after appeals to court were made. Accessed January 06, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/mar/07/arthur-scargill-miners-strike. Page 39. [24] Letwin, Shirley Robin. First shown: 06/. Scargill led the union in the 19841985 miners' strike. However, we have to be careful when taking Nicholas Ridleys account at face value as he was a known Thatcherite and also came up with the Ridley Plan that outlined how to deal and prepare for a potential strike; Perhaps my confidential annexe had been worthwhile after all. The Anatomy of Thatcherism. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. The Myth of Workers' Control Issue 5 of Occasional papers in industrial relations Author Arthur Scargill Publisher University of Leeds, 1980 Original from Cornell University Digitized Apr. His comments followed a question in the Commons from Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who said the miners and their families deserved an apology for the mine closures. Page 158. [11] Benn, Tony. He is looking for socialism in one country, and since that is impossible he ends up with a recipe of capitalism in one country. Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938)[1] is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. (1998), The third way : the promise of industrial democracy, Lawrence, Dennis, By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. This sparked an individual ballot of members, in the autumn of 1984, whereby the ballot obtained an 80% plus vote for strike action, a decision which, if implemented, would have been sufficient to save pits and jobs, and win the dispute which had been brought by the National Coal Board[35]. Scargill was involved in a High Court case in 1978 that set a precedent in UK labour law, known as Roebuck v NUM (Yorkshire Area) No 2. Are you using WordPress? London: Vintage, 2008. Therefore, the argument that Scargills leadership could have been one of the reasons that the miners strike failed is partly true as we know that due to Scargills decision to not call a national ballot he ended up losing key supporters such as the Labour party and many members of the public who couldnt support the strike as it was unofficial and didnt favour Scargills violent tactics. Therefore, Tony Benns argument is more convincing than Eric Evans as he takes into account the failures of the miners as well as giving credit to the amount of support the strike had as well. [4] UK | Politics | Head to Head: The Miners Strike. BBC News. Arthur Scargill and Peggy Kahn. Page 39. The myth of workers' control by Arthur Scargill 0 Ratings 0 Want to read 0 Currently reading 0 Have read Overview View 2 Editions Details Reviews Lists Related Books Publish Date 1980 Publisher University of Leeds, University of Nottingham Language English Pages 22 This edition doesn't have a description yet. Page 70. This is true as we know that Thatchers government backed down from a confrontation with the trade unions in its first parliament in 1979-83 as the government felt like it needed more time in order to stock pile coal in preparation for the next inevitable strike. This lack of support can be blamed on the leadership of Arthur Scargill; therefore, the leadership of Arthur Scargill is a more important factor in the failure of the miners strike in 1985. The Enemy Within: M15, Maxwell and the Scargill Affair. The Myth of Workers' Control (booklet) Person/Body (Historic): Scargill, Arthur. Sadly, all these new political halfwits who think it is smart to ignorethe pieces of history that doesnt suit them, bangingon about the way theysee the future ignoring the fact it should be the way we all would like to see it, should remember the silent majority is just that, ignore it of forget it at your peril. In fact, stocks were much higher[27]. [56], In July 2021 he spoke at the Rebel Town Festival in Jarrow. Test your website to make sure your changes were successfully saved. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. [41] Campbell, John. However, another reason that many people blame Scargill for the downfall of the miners is due to the fact that Scargill authorised the flying picket strategy in order to stop miners going to work. Downing Street Years. This was a complete reversal of the policy that was promised by the Labour Government before it was put into office this represents a betrayal of the mining industry. On March 6, 1984, the National Coal Board announced its plan to cut the nation's coal output by 4 million tons, in an effort to stem a $340 million annual loss. On the other hand, the Marxist/Left Wing view suggests that the strike was part of Thatchers wider attack on political consensus and suggest that the miners could have won the strike had it not been for the concerted, illegal government campaign to smash the miners union, something they had been planning for some time. This is because had the NUM come out nationally in favour of the strike, Nottinghamshire area would have won permission for its own ballot and remained at work. Letwins Thatcherite view is also discredited by Tony Benn who says The issue of a national ballot was really irrelevant. Logger.logCoid("61c4e44a-8d58-45d2-8bc5-5fc2bd749aae"); Back in 1983 (even before the great miners strike) the forunner of Solidarity (Socialist Organiser) condemned Scargills attacks on the independent Polish union movement Solidarnosc, but also identified the root cause of Scargills tragic error (nationalism) and denounced the hypocrisy of many of his critics within the labour movement: Its no news that Scargill has a scandalous attitude to Solidarnosc. Scargill, Arthur, (1978) CONTESTING THE MARKET: PAY EQUITY AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC . Arthur Scargill, the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), addressed a rally Saturday outside Sheffield railway station in support of the railworkers' strike. If your blog is showing the wrong domain name in links, redirecting to another site, or is missing images and style, these are all usually related to the same problem: you have the wrong domain name configured in your WordPress blog. Look for the .htaccess file in the list of files. For more information, see The National Review (June 15, 1984 and April 5 . EconBiz.Logger.enable_Autocompletion_tracking(); John Campbell argues that It was the job of the police to protect the freedom to work, and the job of the government to support the police[37]. Travis, Alan. Scargill was born in Worsbrough Dale near Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. The union is known for leading the longest as well as the most violent miners` strike in the history of British history. [34] Scargill accepted Lightman's statement that many of his actions suffered from a lack of professional advice, which he was unwilling to be bound by. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? Uncategorized > the myth of workers' control arthur scargill. . In fact, other factors such as the governments intense preparations came into play. Person/Body (Historic): Kahn, Peggy. (1998), Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10000684676, Occasional papers in industrial relations. "[40] Scargill complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who criticised the advertisement as "highly distasteful". Wilsher, Peter, Donald Macintyre, and Michael CE Jones, eds. Page 317. [16] Wakefield, Arthur, and Brian Elliot. The miners had already built up a fearsome reputation as the shock troops for organised labour and during his time as leader of the Yorkshire coalfield, Mr Scargill had rarely been out of the news. However, if it had gone the other way the Yorkshire area would have come out and other areas would have to decide whether to give support. Year of publication: 1980. Thereafter Scargill led the NUM through the 19841985 miners' strike. According to the Morning Star Scargill said that every single MP who wants us to go back into Europe should be opposed. That would be the majority of Labour MPs, then, Arthur? Therefore, the argument that the government limited its role to upholding law and order in the dispute is faulty as many of the people who were downplaying the governments actions are known Thatcherites and consequently had ulterior motives. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical. It is reported that the police were getting between 600 and 1000 a week and many people believed that there just arent that many police available to move about. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. In 1973, Scargill was elected to the full-time post of compensation agent in the Yorkshire NUM. Andrew Marrs view on why the Miners strike failed is much more convincing as it gives credit to Scargills leadership skills while also saying not even he would be able to persuade every part of the industry to strike showing that Marr believes that Scargill was the best man for the job. jQuery(function() { The 84/5 miners strike brought great hardship, but achieved nothing. His application was refused because the flat in the Barbican Estate's Shakespeare Tower was not Scargill's primary residence. A miner at the age of 18, he was a member (1955-62) of the Young Communist League before joining the Labour Party.In 1981, Scargill became president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).His attempt to confront Margaret Thatcher's programme of pit closures and anti-union legislation led to a miner's strike (1984-85). The view that the failure to call a National Ballot, by Scargill, cost him valuable support is advocated by Shirley Letwin; Nor did he bother to abide by his own unions rules which required that a strike shall be entered upon as the result of a ballot vote of the members.[1] This led to the miners losing the support of many, including Labour Partys- Neil Kinnock, who felt emotionally disposed to support the miners but aware that it would be political suicide to do so[2]. This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 23:36. The Socialist Labour Party ( SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. July 31, 2013. The End of an Era Diaries 1980-90. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (198485), a major event in the history of the British labour movement. However, one of the most important factors in the failure of the miners strike has to be the lack of support especially from the Nottinghamshire miners and the falling through of the NACODs strike. In pictures: Arthur Scargill's legacy Mr Scargill's election as NUM president in 1981 had an electrifying effect on the union movement. London, 1984. Routledge, 1997. This article, far from being full of lies, hit the nail, well and truly, on the head. Scargill has so burnt his bridges with the NUM and the broad left of the labour movement that his name is never mentioned at Durham miners' gala or at other miners' strike commemorations. The End of an Era Diaries 1980-90. If not, correct the error or revert back to the previous version until your site works again. The strike became a symbolic struggle, as the NUM was one of the strongest unions in the country, viewed by many, including Conservatives in power, as having brought down the Heath government in the union's 1974 strike. By not calling a National Ballot the strike rapidly gained support. All work is written to order. In January 2014, the Prime Minister, David Cameron stated, "I think if anyone needs to make an apology for their role in the miners' strike it should be Arthur Scargill for the appalling way that he led the union. Scargill had, before becoming president, favoured moving the head office of the NUM out of London, which he described as a "prostituting place". [14] The section under "staff procedures" details how Scargill monitored head office staff: Mr. Scargill's vendetta against Head Office staff has at times descended to the most puerile and paranoic [sic] levels. 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