the myth of workers' control arthur scargill

The judge Sir Sydney Templeman held that it was unlawful that union members were disciplined by the NUM disciplinary panel, which Scargill chaired, for appearing as witnesses testifying against Scargill in a libel case. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. March 07, 2009. The strike was called under Rule 41 of the NUM rule book, which said that local strikes can be made official by the National Executive without a ballot. The strike became a symbolic struggle, as the NUM was one of the strongest unions in the country, viewed by many, including Conservatives in power, as having brought down the Heath government in the union's 1974 strike. EconBiz.Logger.enable_visibilityState_tracking(); But my father never forced me to be involved in politics at all.[5]. 11: Britains Longest-serving Cabinet Member Recalls the Triumphs and Disappointments of the Thatcher Era. [9] This performance strengthened his popularity with the Yorkshire miners. On 25 August 2010, it was reported that Scargill had been told that he no longer qualified for full membership of the NUM under union rules that he had helped draw up, but was only eligible for "life", "retired" or "honorary" membership, none of which carried voting rights. [9] Scargill saw this strike as a turning point in the union's attitude to militancy.[10]. (1978), CONTESTING THE MARKET: PAY EQUITY AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, Eigart, Deborah M., In conclusion to my little rant, unions were formed for the betterment of its members, not to be used as a personal vehicle for selfish political dogma. [16] Wakefield, Arthur, and Brian Elliot. It was alleged that, of the money donated from Libya, Scargill took 29,000 for his own bridging loan and 25,000 for his home in Yorkshire, but gave only 10,000 to the striking Nottinghamshire miners. T he council chamber at the Barnsley HQ of the National Union of Mineworkers is a jaw-dropping sight: a huge, oak-panelled room, draped with banners that were once kept at collieries across. Airport staff at Leeds-Bradford Airport identified Scargill attempting to travel under a false name (Arthur Fenn) wearing a disguise on 20 July, and turned him away to purchase a genuine ticket with his true identity. The media characterised the strike as "Scargill's strike" and his critics accused him of looking for an excuse for industrial action since becoming union president. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. After looking at the evidence, I believe that the Marxist view is more valid than the Mainstream media view in the fact that it is clear that Thatcher and her government went above and beyond in order to bring down Scargill and the miners. Because of Scargills actions, the strike was illegal, poorly supported and doomed to failure given the level of government preparations. The Miners Strike Day by Day: The Illustrated 1984-85 Diary of Yorkshire Miner Arthur Wakefield. The Myth of Workers' Control Issue 5 of Occasional papers in industrial relations Author Arthur Scargill Publisher University of Leeds, 1980 Original from Cornell University Digitized Apr. [57] Scargill supported the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, joining an RMT picket line in Wakefield on 21 June 2022. Back in 1983 (even before the great miners strike) the forunner of Solidarity (Socialist Organiser) condemned Scargills attacks on the independent Polish union movement Solidarnosc, but also identified the root cause of Scargills tragic error (nationalism) and denounced the hypocrisy of many of his critics within the labour movement: Its no news that Scargill has a scandalous attitude to Solidarnosc. Before you do anything, it is suggested that you backup your website so that you can revert back to a previous version if something goes wrong. Downing Street Years. If your blog is showing the wrong domain name in links, redirecting to another site, or is missing images and style, these are all usually related to the same problem: you have the wrong domain name configured in your WordPress blog. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/jan/07/guardianletters4, https://www.marxist.com/britain-when-britain-went-to. Accessed October 11, 2018. During this time, he earned the esteem of significant sections of the left and the British working class, who saw him as honest, hard-working and genuinely concerned with their welfare,[12] and he was also respected for improving the administration of the compensation agent's post. Therefore, Milnes interpretation is supported by Ridleys in the fact that government preparations led to the downfall of the miners. [9] When Bullough (unwell at the time) attempted to rule Scargill as "out of order", he was voted out by the area's delegates and a strike was declared across Yorkshire on the issue. However, it can be argued that the government limited its role in upholding law and order in a dispute between the NUM and the NCB. John Campbell argues that It was the job of the police to protect the freedom to work, and the job of the government to support the police[37]. My mother was strictly non-political. The properties will tell you the path and file name that cannot be found. If being ignored is the ultimate retribution forscargill, then he is a lucky man, for if he had espoused his views in some of the countrieswith which he wanted to align us, his best outcome would have been breaking rocks but more likely he would have disappeared never to be heard of again. Arthur Scargill, with his odd and sometimes monomaniacal-seeming habit of referring to himself in the third person, was in some ways a throwback to turn-of-the-century radicalism, a syndicalist . "[46] Kitchen says that Scargill "has had 30 years of decent living out of the union, and he's got a pension that's second to none. If anyone of them has any cause for complaint they are simply showing the door because they have no unions to speak for to stand up for the rights of any working man or woman in this country. (1983), Restructuring the employment relationship, Gallie, Duncan, Looking for a flexible role? Arrow, 1994. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world . That is what we need to remember these days when we think of Scargill. //--> (1980), Scargill, Arthur, However, In , He was right. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! Scargill opposed civilian nuclear power and, during the first Wilson ministry, became highly critical of the government's energy policy. This varies by browser, if you do not see a box on your page with a red X try right clicking on the page, then select View Page Info, and goto the Media Tab. London: Vintage Books, 2008. The Labour Party was opposed to membership of the EU to begin with wasn't it, so what happened, are its current membership more enlightened. This sparked an individual ballot of members, in the autumn of 1984, whereby the ballot obtained an 80% plus vote for strike action, a decision which, if implemented, would have been sufficient to save pits and jobs, and win the dispute which had been brought by the National Coal Board[35]. [53] He was not attending any of the events to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 strike at the NUM. The appointment of Ian McGregor as head of the NCB can be seen as a failure on Thatchers behalf showing that the governments preparations were insufficient to cause the strike to fail. He led an unofficial strike in 1969, and played a key organising role during strikes of 1972 and 1974, the latter of which played a part in the downfall of Edward Heath's Conservative government. It is rather ironic that his view on the EEC was shared by Tjatcher, deep down, and it is a Tory Govt that has taken us out. Page 70. When working with WordPress, 404 Page Not Found errors can often occur when a new theme has been activated or when the rewrite rules in the .htaccess file have been altered. S.l. The Miners Strike Day by Day: The Illustrated 1984-85 Diary of Yorkshire Miner Arthur Wakefield. April 23, 2022 the myth of workers' control arthur scargill . The easiest way to edit a .htaccess file for most people is through the File Manager in cPanel. *You can also browse our support articles here >. : S.n., 1996. Arguably, one of the most important factors in the failure of the Miners Strike in 1984 was the leadership of the head of NUM, Arthur Scargill. He left school in 1953 at fifteen years old to work as a coal miner at Woolley Colliery, where he worked for nineteen years.[2][3]. Either way, please contact your web host immediately. ",confirmEmpty: "Are you sure you want to empty your clipboard? [33] Milne, Seumas. The Truth of Nacods Shameful Sell-out. The Guardian. The strike ended on 3 March 1985 following an NUM vote to return to work. This strengthens Milnes argument that the police brutality, authorised by Thatcher, was unjustified. . EconBiz.Logger.enable_Autocompletion_tracking(); He mentions how the strikers overtime ban was biting deep into power-station coal stocks and goes on to say If it was allowed to continue until the autumn, managers warned, a twelve-week strike would be enough to put the countrys lights out[26]. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f London: Pan Books, an Imprint of Pan Macmillan, 2017. Kim Howells discusses how Neil Kinnock argued that real power lay at the ballot box[4]. Therefore, government preparations are more important than other factors, such as Arthur Scargills leadership and support for the strike, in the failure of the miners strike. [37], The South Wales area leader, Des Dutfield, moved that Scargill should stand down and face re-election, but the motion was defeated. His legacy is one of shame and ignominy. However, one of the most important factors in the failure of the miners strike has to be the lack of support especially from the Nottinghamshire miners and the falling through of the NACODs strike. This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 23:36. Page 341. [53] Following Margaret Thatcher's death in April 2013, ITN made Scargill several offers for a five-minute interview, with the final offer reaching 16,000, but Scargill refused all the offers and did not speak to any media organisation. If not, correct the error or revert back to the previous version until your site works again. In a 1975 interview with New Left Review Scargill said: I was in the Young Communist League for about six or seven years and I became a member of its National Executive Committee responsible for industrial work. He did not. Page 158. Some scholars have concluded that Scargill's decisive tactical error was to substitute his famous flying picket for the holding of a national strike ballot. An article published in The Times in August 2015 stated that Scargill had spoken to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union conference in June 2015, and that he was due to appear alongside Jeremy Corbyn at the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign in September 2015. Peter, Gibbon. [42] Evans, Eric J. Thatcher and Thatcherism. /index.php [L] Uncategorized > the myth of workers' control arthur scargill. Accessed October 12, 2018. A miner at the age of 18, he was a member (1955-62) of the Young Communist League before joining the Labour Party.In 1981, Scargill became president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).His attempt to confront Margaret Thatcher's programme of pit closures and anti-union legislation led to a miner's strike (1984-85). This is portrayed by Kenneth OMorgan, who takes a clear mainstream media view. Arthur Scargill is a British trade unionist who was the president of the National Union of Mineworkers. Chris Kitchen said: "I would say it's time to walk away, Mr Scargill. All work is written to order. He was the President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1981 to 2002 and has served as leader of the Socialist Labour Party, a political party he founded, since 1996. In 1973, Scargill was elected to the full-time post of compensation agent in the Yorkshire NUM. I could write a million words and not be able to adequately describe the misery,hardship and dispare these leaders bought upon the people of this nation. [9] He had challenged Sam Bullough, the President of the Yorkshire area NUM, to act on the working hours of surface workers, given that the union's conference had passed a resolution that their hours be shortened the previous year. [14], Scargill was a very vocal opponent of Thatcher's Conservative government, frequently appearing on television to attack it. In 1961, Scargill was elected a member of the Woolley NUM Branch Committee. March 10, 2004. That's what I believe". Downing Street Years. But Rule 43 said that a national strike can only be called if there was a ballot. However, Wakefield also mentions the betrayal he felt by the Nottinghamshire miners who continued to work by saying The lads are in good spirits even if the majority of scabs are working. After the miners' strike in 1984, there were accusations that Arthur Scargill had misappropriated National Union of Mineworkers funds and that money which sh. This Mainstream media view holds that the strike failed because of Scargills extreme beliefs and bad decisions. Shirley Letwin takes the mainstream media view that Arthur Scargills incompetence as a leader caused the miners strike to fail. Tony Benn. Wikipedia. However, Kenneth OMorgan may be overemphasising the amount of support that the miners had as we know that Thatcher continuously demonised the miners in the media calling them the enemy within and this reduced a lot of public support for the strike. ." It is a world of despair, of ashes, and coldness, and darkness, and the setting acts as a . His post-1985 decision to try and build a political organisation the so-called Socialist Labour Party turned out to be a disaster and created nothing more than a pathetic, personal bandwagon which spluttered briefly before the wheels fell off. Scargill, Arthur, (1978) CONTESTING THE MARKET: PAY EQUITY AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC . He then goes on to say with incidents of appalling violence on both sides showing that even Campbell who takes the mainstream media view is forced to acknowledge the unnecessary violence of the police force when facing the miners. Clearly, Scargill did fall out of favour with the Socialist movement, perhaps because it became evident that he was only happy when he was in the limelight. Therefore, this portrays the feelings of the majority of the miners who were on strike as they realised that this lack of support could determine the outcome of the strike. July 31, 2013. Page 57-59. Page 316, [3] Harris, Robert. ",email_success: "Message Sent",bulk_noitems_advice: "No items were selected. vufindString = {bulk_email_success: "Your item(s) were e-mailed",bulk_save_success: "Your item(s) were saved successfully",close: "close",loading: "Loading",sms_success: "Message sent. Notice that the CaSe is important in this example. This is because had the NUM come out nationally in favour of the strike, Nottinghamshire area would have won permission for its own ballot and remained at work. [32] Benn, Tony. "Scargill" redirects here. In January 2014, the Prime Minister, David Cameron stated, "I think if anyone needs to make an apology for their role in the miners' strike it should be Arthur Scargill for the appalling way that he led the union. Soup kitchens were set up to save miners and their families from starvation in nearly every small village[18]. On March 6, 1984, the National Coal Board announced its plan to cut the nation's coal output by 4 million tons, in an effort to stem a $340 million annual loss. You may get a 404 error for images because you have Hot Link Protection turned on and the domain is not on the list of authorized domains. However, we have to be careful when using this as evidence as Tebbit may have been trying to take credit for the failure of the strike. [39], During the media controversy, the antiperspirant Mitchum used Scargill's image, without his consent, under the slogan "Mitchum, for when you're really sweating! In 1990, Scargill was accused in a series of Daily Mirror articles of mishandling money donated for the striking miners during the 19841985 strike, with many of the sources being those who had previously worked with him in the NUM such as Kim Howells, Jim Parker and Roger Windsor. Arrow, 1994. [34] Wakefield, Arthur, and Brian Elliot. Page 151. Thatcher deliberately chose to make the miners who continued to work look like heroes and make the striking miners look like the public enemy. //

the myth of workers' control arthur scargill