“Heartbreaking” testimonies from the miners’ strike will be presented to commemorate the historic event's 40th anniversary.
This month marks four decades since the strikes erupted, when tens of thousands of miners stood up to Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government over plans to cut 20,000 jobs and shut numerous mine pits.
The miners’ strikes, the country’s biggest wave of post-war industrial action, are seen as both momentous and divisive in British history.
The strikes tore communities apart and led to violent clashes between miners and police officers who had been brought in to police the marches.
People lost their livelihoods, with the strike slogan ‘Close a pit, kill a community’ eventually becoming a reality for many mining towns.
Like many civil-action incidents in the UK, the fallout from the miners’ strike hit the local people involved the hardest.
In 2023, UK politicians called for the pardon of miners who were convicted during the strikes. However, some unresolved tensions still linger among the communities involved today.
What caused the miners' strike in 1984?
In early 1984, the UK Government confirmed plans to close 20 collieries (coal mines), placing thousands of jobs at risk, mainly in North England, Scotland, and Wales.
Rumours at the time, however, suggested that up to 70 mines were actually marked for closure, prompting major concern from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
Previous strikes in the 1970s had caused considerable disruption across the UK, and the Government had stockpiled coal in anticipation of further strikes.
In the days following the Government’s announcement, miners from coalfields in various parts of the country decided to strike.
A strike at the Cortonwood Colliery in Yorkshire on March 5 is often viewed as the first of the miners’ strikes. Other collieries quickly followed suit, and the NUM announced an official strike on March 12.
With their livelihoods and their family’s wellbeing at risk, most miners participated in the strike action, leaving their pits and joining major protests across the UK. Thousands carried pickets and demanded the closures be halted in solidarity with fellow miners.
Thousands of police officers, many from miners’ areas, were ordered to police picket lines – sometimes leading to violence.
Thousands of people were prosecuted for incidents linked to the miners’ strike, with many being unable to work again after they were charged.
This strike action lasted for around a year, meaning many people went unpaid and struggled to support their families while campaigning to save their jobs.
At the same time, not everyone agreed to strike, with many miners in Nottinghamshire continuing to go to work. Others, struggling to make ends meet, returned to work early.
These miners were often referred to as “scabs” and were ostracised by their community for continuing to work. Divisions among the strikers is what the UK hoped to achieve to break up the protest.
As a result of thousands of miners still working and Thatcher’s stockpile of coal, the people on strike didn’t have the desired impact.
How did the miners’ strike end?
On March 5, 1985, after days of fraught discussions among union leaders, the miners officially returned to work. For many, this came alongside mixed feelings, including a sense of defeat and betrayal by those who continued to work during the strike.
However, the fallout from the miners’ strike was only just beginning.
In the years that followed, the Government progressively shut down several coal mines across the country, which ultimately marked the start of the UK’s deindustrialisation, profoundly affecting working-class communities.
A mass privatisation of national industries also followed, and the strength of unions as well as workers’ rights dwindled.
Strikes continued in the following years, but had little effect and the UK’s mining industry was effectively ended.
Many working-class communities in former mining towns are still feeling the impact of what happened 40 years ago.
Why were British coal mines closed?
There’s a long history of strikes linked to the UK coal industry; however, the market was increasingly seen as unprofitable.
New technologies, competition with overseas mines, and growing acceptance of mining's negative environmental impacts likely also played a role.
However, rather than phasing out and replacing the industries, Thatcher’s decision to close the mines outright seemed to serve a different purpose.
Some believe that breaking up of unions, such as the NUM, was an effort to promote more privatisation and reduce the amount of government subsidies paid out, while weakening workers’ rights.
During Thatcher’s time in power,115 coal mines closed in the UK, and 55 closed under John Major.
How many coal mines are still open in the UK?
There are no opencast coal mines left in operation in the UK. The Ffos-y-Fran, the country’s last opencast mine, reportedly closed in November 2023.
However, a handful of other mines are still in operation.
According to UK Gov statistics, six underground coal mines were in operation in March 2023.
The Aberpergwm Colliery, a deep underground mine in Wales, is currently facing legal challenges to attempts to expand mining processes.
In December 2022, the Tory government approved the first coal mine project in decades, the Woodhouse Colliery. Although the project was promised to deliver a number of jobs, environmental groups criticised it for failing to prioritise the UK’s commitment to reducing emissions.
