Miners Strike Audio

Dave Douglass spoke on the history of the 1984/5 miners strike at The Space Project in Leeds (see event details). Douglass is an ex-miner, working class militant and union organiser. As an NUM branch delegate since 1979, Dave has been involved in many campaigns most notably the 1984 miners strike. Throughout that time he has been a member of Class War and the IWW, as well as having written a number of books, most recently "Ghost Dancer" on his experiences of militancy in the coal fields of Durham and Yorkshire.

Beginning with previous strike action he discussed the reasons behind the Conservative government strategy of the early 1980s: They stockpiled coal, put pressure on newspapers, developed state apparatus to crush the strike, and stoked political fault-lines in the Nottingham mines. The miners legally picketed and were met with brutal police reaction.

Continuing his talk, Dave Douglass explained that the strike almost became a more general strike with rail workers and docker refusing to deliver and load coal and, most importantly, the mine engineers almost joining the strike. The role of the Women Against The Pit Closures group and other wives and supporters groups was also discussed

Attached Files

Miners Strike