Tuesday, 28 January 2014
THE MINERS' STRIKE:
30 YEARS ON
Calderdale Trades Council Public Meeting
Wednesday 12 March, 7.30pm, Hebden Bridge Trades Club
Speakers:
Ken Capstick (Former Vice President, Yorkshire NUM)
Jean Gittins (Women Against Pit Closures)
John Dunn (Ex-Derbshire miner and Clay Cross Councillor)
Mark Metcalfe (Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign)
Thirty years ago on March 5 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers embarked on the most important class struggle in Britain since the 1926 General Strike.
Over the following twelve months of ferocious battles, billions of pounds were spent by Thatcher's government to crush the miners' militancy.
More than 10,000 miners were arrested; two were killed on the picket lines and countless others injured. Decades of consensus were obliterated and the real and ugly face of British capitalism was exposed for all to see. The masks of democracy and the law were shattered as the veil of so-called independence of the courts, the police and the media was lifted to show the real role of the state in capitalist society.
The courage and determination of the miners and their families, struggling to defend their communities from an unparalleled assault, should serve as an inspiration to a new generation. The consequences of the strike - and its eventual defeat - for the miners, the coal mining industry, the labour movement and the working class as a whole make it our duty to study its many lessons.
The speakers, all involved in different ways in the '84 strike, will talk about what really happened, what is happening now, and what we can learn for the struggles of today.
The meeting takes place at Hebden Bridge Trades Council, Holme Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8EE. Very good and reasonably priced food available from Lhamo's kitchen from 4.30pm and the bar will be open as usual.
For more information:
e-mail: tradescouncilcalderdale@yahoo.co.uk
or ring: 07983 992086
Previously, on the HebWeb
HebWeb News: Mike Harding back at the Trades for the first time since his Miners' Benefit in 1984 (Dec 2012)
HebWeb News: Local councillors join Miners' Gala and see new banner designed by Calder Valley artist (July 2012)
HebWeb News: The Pits and the Pendulums - Coal Miners Versus Free Markets exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum (Nov 2010)