Colchester & District TUC

Proud Of Our Past & Fighting For A Better Future

The Miners Strike 25th Anniversary

The miners' strike of 1984-1985 was one of the most bitter industrial disputes Britain has ever seen. The catalyst for the strike was the announcement by the National Coal Board (NCB) on 6th March 1984 that it intended to cut national capacity by 4 million tonnes and close 20 pits with the loss of 20,000 jobs. Cortonwood Colliery in South Yorkshire was to close imminently.

The year-long strike involved the use of the Metropolitan Police in local mining villages and biased press coverage as the pit communities from around Britian fought to retain their local collieries there only source of employment. There were many violent confrontations between pickets and police. A key confrontation occurred in the 'Battle of Orgreave' when one mass picket on 18th June 1984 was 10,000 strong and the pickets were met with police in riot gear, police horses and dogs

By January 1985, the strike was beginning to disintegrate as miners facing increasing financial hardship, returned to work in increasing numbers. The NCB had offered incentives to return to work before Christmas. The NUM had failed to gain support from other key industrial trade unions and Nottinghamshire were threatening to form a separate breakaway union (which they later did, forming the Union of Democratic Mineworkers). Consequently on 3rd March 1985, a year from the start of the strike, the NUM's National Executive voted 98-91 in favour of an organised return to work. The miners returned to work defeated but not broken as they defiantly walked behind colliery bands and lodge banners, and alongside the women and children who had provided them with such immense support.

On 25 January 2009, it will be the 25 year anniversary of the decision to ban trade unions in GCHQ.

- 25 years on

On 25 January 2009, it will be the 25 year anniversary of the decision to ban trade unions in GCHQ.
The GCHQ trade union campaign began after the decision by the Conservative government in January 1984 to ban unions at the GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) intelligence gathering centre in Cheltenham.
The Foreign Secretary announced to a shocked House of Commons that independent unions would be banned from GCHQ. The TUC, CCSU, the leaders of all opposition parties, and MPs from all parties erupted in indignant anger at this declaration.
In the short period between the announcement and the implementation of the ban on 1 March 1984, the entire labour movement joined forces to oppose the ban. The level of solidarity, particularly from trade union members in those areas unconnected with the civil service or even the public sector, was a great source of encouragement to their counterparts in GCHQ. After 1 March, a determined group of 150 union members remained steadfast in refusing to give up their rights. They became known as the "GCHQ Trade Unionists". In 1988, 14 workers were dismissed because of their refusal to resign their union membership.
The GCHQ trade unionists remained at the forefront of the campaign to restore trade union rights at GCHQ, travelling the length and breadth of the country talking to other union members about the campaign and the fundamental right to belong to a trade union. The GCHQ campaign became one of the most important trade union issues during the 1980s and 1990s, with annual marches in January through Cheltenham until the ban was lifted.
With the election of a Labour government in May 1997, the rights of trade unionists at GCHQ were restored and the campaign ended. On Friday July 25 the sacked trade unionists made a symbolic march back inside GCHQ to mark the end of the infamous union ban, some of whom continue to work in GCHQ to this day.
Mike Grindley, one of the sacked trade unionists,
"We are all very proud of having been at the heart of the GCHQ trade unions campaign, and of having fought for the fundamental trade union rights to which everyone is entitled. We express our gratitude to all, both here and abroad, who have given us steadfast support since 1984."
Deputy General Secretary Hugh Lanning,
"The successful restoration of trade union rights, jobs, and pensions in 1997, was a huge achievement following a long running campaign, and we now have a thriving organisation in GCHQ."
Statement by Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, 15 May 1997
"The Government have signalled their commitment to open and fair relations in the work place. As part of that commitment, I want today to right a long-standing wrong. Since 1984, we have been pledged to restore normal trade union rights to the staff of GCHQ. We are now honouring that pledge. …GCHQ staff make a valuable contribution to protecting the liberties and freedoms of our country. Today's move enables them to share fully in one of the important liberties that they defend."

Amicus the Union History

by Andrew Robinson

Click to Down load Amicus the Union History.pdf

Socialist Author

Robert Noonan (pen name RobertTressell)

The Life and Times of Robert Tressell. In 1910 Robert Noonan (pen name RobertTressell) completed his socialist classic 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'. This film is a dramatisation of the nine years spent by Noonan in Hastings while he wrote the book, based on the fragments known of his life, his writing and the political events of the time. It records his disgust at the conditions suffered by the English working-class, his work as a poorly-paid house-decorator and his conflicting relationships with his employers, his fellow workers and his family. It shows how the book itself grew out of a commitment to socialism which the prevailing conditions of depression and unemployment prevented him from putting into practice, particularly when he tried to encourage his colleagues to join a union.

The film offers a sympathetic and personal account of Noonan which stresses the isolation and determination of a socialist thinker whose convictions and ideals outran those of many of his friends and fellow workers. Writer/Director: Phil Mulloy Cast: Frank Grimes - Robert Tressell, Andrew Boxer-Bill, Eva Griffith-Kathleen Noonan Production Company: Spectre Productions Ltd © Arts Council of Great Britain 1982 Colour, 65mins

Concord Media has a very good film about Robert Tressell

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