David Beale, "Supporting the miners: a new analysis of the archives of a Lancashire miners' support group in the 1984-85 strike."

Published literature about the 1984-5 British miners' strike has been extensive (e.g., Adeney and Lloyd, 1986; Beynon, 1985; Crick, 1985; Goodman, 1985; Howell, 1989; MacGregor, 1986; Miller, 1986; Parker, 1986; Samuel et al., 1986; Seddon, 1986; Stead, 1987; Winterton and Winterton, 1989). There have been general histories of the strike, general 'compendia' on the issues, professionally-conducted oral histories, autobiographies and biographies, overviews of women's role in the strike, literature on policing, evaluations and interventions by the left political press, numerous magazine and journal articles, and 'a vast outpouring of popular local memorabilia' (Gibbon, 1988: 139).

Whilst there has been some important literature focused explicitly on the key role of women in the strike (e.g., Miller, 1986; Seddon, 1986; Stead, 1987), reports of a wider picture of miners' support group activity have often been contained in more general accounts and assessments of the strike and often presented in a rather fragmented fashion (e.g., Adeney and Lloyd, 1986; Beynon, 1986; Goodman, 1985; Parker, 1986; Samuel et al., 1986; Winterton and Winterton, 1989). A national survey of support groups was carried out in the aftermath of the strike, though this provides a factual profile rather than much in-depth analysis (Labour Research Department, 1985); and important case studies have also been published of women's and miners' support groups (e.g., Massey and Wainwright 1985; Bloomfield, 1986; Knight, 1986), yet these are quite brief. [There are other accounts that have been published and distributed by miners’ support groups themselves as celebratory records (Samuel et al., 1986 - at least a dozen had appeared in the immediate aftermath of the strike). ]

With the context of this literature and of the wider aspects of the strike in mind, this paper analyses an extensive archive of a miners' support group that contains documentary material collected at the time of the strike, and which has not been previously used for research purposes. This support group - called the Chorley and Coppull Miners' Support Committee - was located on the edge of the Lancashire coalfield, and operated as a new and relatively autonomous body, but with representation from the local Labour Party, Trades (Union) Council and National Union of Mineworkers. A miners' wives' group was established later and operated in conjunction with the main committee, though in practice this acted more broadly as a women's (rather than wives') support group; and also women participated extensively within the main miners' support committee. Approximately 120 miners lived in the area and were employed at collieries located 15 to 20 miles from their homes, with the majority at Parkside Colliery. However, there was also a local open cast coal site, which was a focus for picketing. Lancashire was a divided coalfield in 1984-85, though the majority of miners supported the strike (Howell, 1989).

Analysis of the documentary evidence highlights seven important aspects of the work and concerns of the Chorley and Coppull Miners' Support Committee: the process and politics of establishing the support group; money, food parcels and welfare; picketing; women's activity; mobilising support through public meetings, publicity and the production, distribution and sale of memorabilia; unfolding tensions and political conflicts experienced by the support group; the return to work and the aftermath. The paper examines these aspects, and compares this profile with the form and activities of other support groups nation-wide.

What is immediately apparent from this is the considerable diversity and complex pattern of support groups (Labour Research Department, 1985), and how the economic and political geography affected this. The Chorley and Coppull Committee had a relatively small number of miners but no colliery (and therefore no NUM lodge) in its immediate vicinity, though picketing activity at its open cast site did provide a significant focus; and there were several important shop stewards' committees in the area - mainly representing manufacturing, defence and engineering sites - with strong union traditions and supporting the strike. On a national basis, support for the strike in terms of money and food often came directly to the NUM, the miners and their families from trade unions, trades councils, the Labour Party, other left political parties, various pressure groups and countless individuals - but it also came from various kinds of support groups specifically established for the purpose. These ranged from from miners' wives' groups to more broadly-based women's groups (some of which were formally linked to the Women Against Pit Closures national organisation), to those adopting the title of miners' support group or committee, to lesbian and gay support groups, to student groups and unemployed people's groups, and to workplace groups (regardless of union membership). The particular activities, focus and strategies of support of these groups depended partly on their origins and membership, and partly upon how they linked themselves to the striking miners. For example, did they concentrate on providing money and/or food to miners who lived (and perhaps worked) in their own locality, or were they geographically removed from the coalfields and twinned themselves with a particular colliery or community (or several) in other parts of the country?

There are also other wider issues that the experiences of the various support groups raise. The questions the strike raised about women's role and struggle is undoubtedly of major importance (e.g., Seddon, 1986; Stead, 1987). However, not only in relation to women's role in the strike and the implications of this, the miners' support groups drew together a much wider layer of people than would normally be active in trade unions and left wing political parties, and at the same time established important links between them, particularly at a grass roots level. At first glance, there may appear to be some similarities with the councils of action and the 'parliaments of labour' concept of 60 years earlier. However, as others have pointed out, the miners' support groups expressed their solidarity predominantly in terms of welfare and, unlike the councils of action in the 1926 General Strike, did not attempt to mobilise solidarity in terms of wider industrial action in the localities (Samuel et al., 1986: x, 33). In spite of this, the experience of the miners' support groups in the 1984-5 strike gives some indication of the potential of grass roots trade union activity directly linked to wider social movements.

References

Adeney, M. and Lloyd, J. (1986) Loss Without Limits: The Miners Strike of 1984-5, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Beynon, H. (1985) (ed.) Digging Depper: Issues in the Miners' Strike, London: Verso.

Bloomfield, B. (1986) 'Women's support group at Maerdy' in Samuel, R., Bloomfield, B. and Boanas, G. (eds.), The Enemy Within: Pit Villages and the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Crick, M. (1985) Scargill and the Miners, Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Gibbon. P.(1988) 'Analysing the British miners' strike of 1984-5', Economy and Society, 17, 2, 139-94.

Goodman, G. (1985) The Miners Strike, London: Pluto Press

Howell, D. (1989) The Politics of the NUM: A Lancashire View, Manchester: Manchester University Press

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Miller, J. (1986) You Can't Kill the Spirit: Women in a Welsh Mining Village, London: The Women's Press.

Parker, T. (1986) Red Hill: a Mining Community, London: Heinemann.

Samuel, R., Bloomfield, B. and Boanas, G. (eds.), The Enemy Within: Pit Villages and the Miners' Strike of 1984-5, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Seddon, V. (1986) The Cutting Edge: Women and the Pit Strike, London: Lawrence and Wishart.

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Winterton, J. and Winterton, R. (1989) Coal, Crisis and Conflict, Manchester: Manchester University Press.