Quote:
Originally Posted by Shasown
Thats about the sum total of the whole situation, Scargill reckoned he had the NCB over a barrel with the knock on effect, and thought he was above everyone being in charge of what was at the time the most powerful union. Given the problems unions had caused the previous decade, government decided not to back down.
So they put Ian McGregor (wont use the nickname we have for him) in to lead the NCB. He planned on bringing in phased closures over 5 years leading to a total job loss of about 20,000 jobs, thats total jobs and not taking into account natural wastage etc.
I had lots of relatives working in the coal industry at the time and most of them didnt want the strike, just a fair chance at not losing their jobs, or if their pit was closing a reasonable chance of being relocated to a different one. Scargill called the strike illegally and the NUM union delegates were not representative of the mining workforce. The strike was called without national ballet and at the time was centred on a colliery in Yorkshire.
In the end because of the strike over 90% of the coal industry was deemed uneconomic. Added to that the suffering of the families, the knock on effect in both mining hinterlands and other related industries, but hey ho, old arthur still had his NUM salary and index linked pension. Well done Arthur.
As for the poll tax, I know I was living in Fife at the time it was introduced, was not impressed by that one.
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Yer posts are always well informed and well argued (until you unwisely start quoting Unionist website propaganda!). We disagree slightly on some issues but you're correct on most of the above.