Letter from Durham: 40 years on from the miners’ strike

Martin Shipton

It’s 40 years since coal miners across Britain began a year-long strike aimed at saving the industry.

It failed and thousands lost their jobs, dealing a massive blow to communities in the south Wales Valleys, Yorkshire, the north east of England and Scotland’s central belt.

The Durham Miners’ Gala took place on Saturday July 13 and I spoke to three friends who, like me, have visited the annual event for years.

Despite the end of mining decades ago, more than 200,000 people visit the small city in the north east of England to celebrate the trade union movement, watching the parade of banners as they pass through the city centre and listening to speeches delivered by union leaders.

I spoke to three people who have been attending the “Big Meeting” for years to see why they keep coming back..All three requested anonymity.

Asked what the Gala meant to her. Mary said: “It’s the greatest celebration of working class life in Europe – the biggest celebration of trade union solidarity in Europe and a celebration of a culture that has been sadly lost due to the closure of the pits in this country.

But the village community still lives on, probably because they can’t sell their houses because nobody wants to buy a house in a deserted pit village. But when you’re here, you can see the community spirit, with people coming in from villages round about and enjoy the day.”

Defeat

Asked about the scale of the strike’s defeat and whether there were any signs that the union movement had recovered since then, Mary said: “I don’t think the defeat was such a great defect as we thought at the time, because papers have been uncovered that show the massive level of organisation that the government went to in order to combat the strike, and the preparations that they made, with the gathering of coal and so on so that they wouldn’t be left short when the strike started – and that in the end, if the miners hadn’t gone back to work when they did, if they’d managed to last a few more weeks, they would have won the strike – but of course they didn’t know that at the time.

“The defeat is a lesson that the trade union movement has had to learn.”

Asked whether she was hopeful that anti-trade union legislation introduced by successive Conservative governments might be repealed following the election of a Labour government. Mary said: “There were certainly calls from the platform today for just that. All of the speakers were trade unionists. There were no overtly political speakers. It was all about trade unionism and what we’ve learnt from the strike and how they’re going to go forward.

“The trade unions seem to be calling on the new government to take radical action. I think that if it doesn’t happen quite soon, we’re going to see another wave of strikes. Some think there’s a real opportunity, now we have a Labour government, that they can make some changes. But I think they need pushing from the bottom up – from communities and trade unions.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen by itself. I would definitely like to see greater collaboration between the Labour Party and the trade unions. I think the Labour Party should be the party of the trade unions. Today there were calls for the Tory law that forces trade unions to provide minimum public service levels during a strike to be repealed.. And that the gig economy should be done away with.

“They [the government] need to come up with something pretty quickly to avoid strife with the trade union movement. With a Tory government you don’t expect to win these rights, but with a Labour government you do – andI think they’ll keep their feet to the fire.”

Picket lines

Liz said: “Forty years ago I was on the picket lines of the miners’ strike as a young woman. All my life I’ve been involved with the trade union and Labour movement. The Gala is one of the top events of the trade union movement and a tremendous day out. Listening to the speakers, you get a sense of solidarity with the people.”

Asked whether there was inconsistency in celebrating an industry based on the production of a fossil fuel when the government wants to ease them out and promote renewable energy instead, Liz said: “No – not really. .At the time when the mining industry was at its height, there was no alternative to fossil fuels because using them was the only way to generate enough energy to heat people’s homes, whereas now there are renewables – solar power, wind power and so on. We can’t go back to fossil fuels because of climate change.”

When it was pointed out many of the “new working class” work in call centres, with little union representation, Liz said: “The unions should, as a start, insist on the end of zero hours contracts. Angela Rayner has been talking about doing something about that.”

‘Co-operative world’

Paul said: “I come from the co-operative world, so a slightly different side of the political economy. But I like the fact that it’s a “Big Meeting” – that there are union activists from all over the country here in Durham.”

Asked to what extent he thought the event amounted to “nostalgic socialism”, he said: “No it’s not. From the speeches, and the way they tap into the way things are going, particularly on international solidarity to do with in particular Gaxa and :Palestine. We inherit the past and build for the future. I’ve heard that in more than one conversation today.”

Asked how optimistic he was that there would be a revival of participation in the trade union movement under a new Labour government, Paul said: “I think they may go more the cooperative way. I’ve got every confidence, but it’s going to be slow. I don’t think they can do anything quickly, but what I do see is plans to move in that direction. They’ve had to tread so carefully to get where they are that we don’t really know where they stand yet.”

Asked about the way lobbying companies exert pressure on governments, Paul said: “I think the CBI is a bit like the opposite of Nostalgic Socialism – a form of Nostalgic Capitalism. I don’t know how powerful they are, but ultimately it’s going to be about cooperation.

“Having worker directors in companies, as they do in Germany, would be a great way forward. I think we need to work up quickly what it is that we do want.”