Miners are back in action for jobs!
By BILL PETERS The decision of the Scottish Area Executive of the NUM to support the loss of almost 2,000 jobs in the Scottish coal field is the worst decision taken in the coal mining industry before the year long strike.
In the course of one week last month they supported:
*the loss of hundreds of jobs through voluntary redundancies Barony in Ayrshire;
*the closure of Comrie coliery in Fife with the loss of 480 jobs;
*and the link-up of Bilston Glen and Monktonhall in Lothian with the loss of 900 jobs.
The decisions have reduced the labour force in the Scottish coal field to less than 5,000 and the number of pits to nine.
Commenting on the decision to support the closures, George Bolton, chair of the Communist Party, President of the Scottish NUM, the closures were taking place because:
"'The Coal Board are rationalise the industry to meet current situation."
He went on to stress the "positive side" of the decision:
'The positive side of the picture was that £20m was being invested Monktonhall and that deep mining was being retained in Ayrshire... There are also good prospects for developments at Happenendon and Canonbie."
A few days later Bolton was stressing the point again:
"In the short term thère are job losses, but in the long term there is a very good prospect for Bilston Glen and Monkton Hall. It's a step backwards to take a step forwards."
Scottish Area NUM Secretary Eric Clarke said:
"We are recommedning acceptance of the proposals for Bilston Glenn and Monktonhall because the alternative was the complete closure of Monkton Hall and the loss of all reserves in the Musselbough basin."
He went on to say:
"We are reluctantly accepting short-term expediency for long development."
These statements are utterly cynical, since the track record of the NCB is that they will follow up every closure with more closures. Betore long hey will be questioning the viability of what is left of the Scottish coalfield.
The Scottish decision has compounded the difficult problem of defending jobs in
since at Killock and national and Vice said that trying to the in future Musselburgh. So rish Are be carats are meets the last meeting of the Mineworkers term Lancashire, they proudly announced that and that they had been to petition the Queen on their behalf! unresisted that the departure of MacGregor and his replacement by Haslam have been quickly dispelled fact hard line
FREE TERRY JUSTICE FRENCH FOR TERRY FRENCH DCHT LET THE MACES STAND ALONEY STRIKING MERS WILL MACCAR AND SON NEST STAND ALONE LONDON MARY 5 PROT 'YESEN Terry French's candidacy for NUM Vice President highlights issue of victimised miners. of the coal industry, yet the unrepentant in their right wing stand. At Justice for these Campaign held in Bolton redundancies. they were defending the victimised miners Balmoral to Any illusions which may have existed pressure closure particularly programme had been speeded up, and the Scotland in the pits maintained. The Socialist Viewpoint No. 14 November-December 1986 p13
PHOTO: Stefano Cagnoni (Report) national membership of the NUM is down to below 100,000 from almost 200,000 at the beginning of the strike. Over 30,000 of
Ware due to pit closures and
The strength behind Scargill's speech at the NUM conference, where he reminded the union that ultimately industrial action is the only way to defend jobs can now be clearly seen. Yet Scargill remains under
from within NUM, from Area leaderships like and South Wales, and the Communist Party is organising against
him along with the right wing. There have been rumblings from McGahey and others
Othe trade union movement as whole, Scargill's class struggle approach is under ever greater attack. Nantgarw colliery near Cardiff, and Cwm colliery near Pontypridd, with a loss of up to 1,300 jobs. At a meeting at the pits only procedure and resist the closure. If this is contrasted with the determined attempt to
closure of Lewis Merthyr in 1983, the dramatic change in the situation
The South Wales coalfield is now down to 14 pits, from 28 before the strike, with a loss of 8,000 jobs.
South Wales NUM Area President Des Dutfield said in the Morning Star that he would not recommend fighting the closure
Othe review procedure since wouldn't want to raise hopes by using this
It is true that the defence of jobs under the current conditions is difficult and it is also true that the current tactic of the NCB have made it even more difficult. present redundancy scheme ends in April
could lose in redundant after April rather than betore. Intended redundancy would need to be known by December 1986 for the three month rule to be valid. At the present time the miners receive !1,000 per year's servie in redudancy payments. Now, those not notified for redundancy by December will only receive money under the new scheme; those under 21 years service would receive 2250 per year, 21 to 30 years of age £450 and 30 to 50 year olds £700 for every year's service.
To put a pit in the review procedure now would take the closure date beyond April, and up to now every pit which has gone into the procedure, with the exception of Darfield Main in Yorkshire, has been closed in the end including pis like Bates where the review procedure was
Even the militant Kent coalfield have under those conditions. A meeting of the 475 miners there voted not to review procedure
Staking place under conditions where militancy amongst the rank and file of the
expressed most clearly in the 2 to 1 ballot decision of the Durham Mechanics
Tone day strikes at selected pits each week.
The Mechanics were balloted for strike action on four issues:
1) to reinstate Geoff Hartnell (a Durham Mechanic sacked two months after the end of the strike) and all the sacked miners;
2) to force the Coal Board to pay back the money stolen from the miners;
3)to restore the conciliation machinery in the industry;
Durham NUM members voted by a 66 per
The first of the one-day strikes was held on September 22 at Murton coliery and was a resounding success. In a remarkable display of solidarity, the only people to cross the Mechanics picket line were a handful of deputies, and two members of
the UDM. 18 of the 20 UDM members at the pit respected the picket, with all the
delegate for Murton Workers Press:
"Two mini-bus loads of police were queikly rushed to the scene but in the absence of the huge numbers they were accustomed to, they were forced to take the taunts and jibes of the pickets and electrified as wives, girlfriends well-wishers joined the men on the gate and stayed talking till the small hours of Monday morning. feelings when he said: I am two years
As Monday progressed, the pubs and clubs of Murton filled with high-spirited miners discusing old times and future
Not a defeatist soul to be seen."
The second strike took place on Tuesday of last week, this time Westoe colliery was
where seven NUM members have been sacked since the end of the year long strike. Only recently the pit was brought to a refused to cross a picket line put up by the
In last week's strike the action was again
question of the NUM members going in but there are 130 UDM members at the pit
Chad been urged by the scab union to cross the Mechanics picket line. In the event only a dozen went in, and the
The third took place at Wearmouth pit on Monday October 21. Production was at a standstill and only UDM members and some NACODS went in
This overtime ban linked to the one day strikes has shaken the Board and may have been a factor in the decision of Haslam to offer to pay the back pay in an attempt to buy the dispute off on that one point. If this is the case the lesson of this is to build on
this success by maintaining
up the action focussing on the other three demonstrates that a fightback can be organised even at this stage in the coal
industry. It creates new conditions to fight
for the reinstatement of all the sacked men and to defend the industry. The pay issue is important as well. The wage offer, for Socialist Viewpoint No. 14 November-December 1986 p14
example, includes a clause on pensions under which a strike of more than a week
pension rights
At the same time the 1986-7 pay round is due to begin next month. That is expected Option". There has been little information on this coming from the NUM but it is
Wto include a non-negotiable pension scheme and a new bonus set-up
militants as an attempt to divide production workers from the rest of the workforce. Under this face men would be paid on "target achieved", achieved". The scheme doesn't pay unless the tonnage achieved is more than the colliery break-even point.
All this raises the matter of a coherent
fought for across construction of a broad-based rank and file movement which to organise around unresolved problem.
Not that there is a shortage of those presenting themelves as a national rank
movement of miners: the most "National Miners' recent Broad Left", which held its first meeting in Barnsley on September 21. Although organised along sectarian lines by Militant it attracted 120 miners from right across
The main debate at the meeting showed the need for a discussion on a strategy for the miners to meet the present conditions. It recognised the gradual re-emergence of combativity amongst rank and file miners since the end of the strike, and the need for a clear direction if it is going to be developed further. The problem was how hardly have been more contusing
The strategy advanced by Militant was to call for the extension of the overtime ban which has been in operation in South Wales for the past two months — which is a national action in its present form. They argued that this would further develop militancy in the pits since the present ban in South Wales was costing the NCB large sums of money and this could be repeated in other areas.
The main debate therefore was between this proposal and a call by other miners
Tand Socialist Viewpoint for a full overtime ban covering overtime (although the SWP didn't want a national overtime ban to be called by the national union but to extended from area to area. Militant argued that this would be going too far tor fast, and that miners were Militant policy prevailed with a motion calling for a complete ban being defeated.
The platform of the meeting resisted a proposal calling for the extension of the Durham Mechanics selective strike action into other NUM areas, and it wa not until a delegation from Durham arrived at the
- late because they had been organising a strike for Monday morning —
accepted by the platform. The resolution commendation from the plattorm to vote against.
The meeting went on to pass a resolution calling for the defence of pits, but it did not address itself to question of how to defend the threatened very difficult pits and how to deal with the April redundancy pay deadline; what do you say to a miner who says that he will lose