As far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as an unprofitable pit, and he saw McGregors proposed closures as a way for Thatcher to weaken the NUM, close down far more pits than McGregor was claiming and lead the way to privatisation. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1896-1899 was the largest gold strike in Canadian history. In the 1970s, the NUM and NCB negotiated miners' treatment. js photo studios. The miners' strike that ended an era Adam Smith Institute. Primary Union Involved in Strike: American Railway Union. So, was it a good thing that the miners lost? Under immense pressure, the government compromised with the NUM, offering a wage increase of around 30%. Rolling blackouts, coal shortages, and severe transport disruption were the unfortunate side effects that had played a large part in Thatchers Conservative government coming to power in early 1979. //--> The California Gold Rush took place between 1848 and 1855. The 1980 Coal Industry Act reduced the borrowing power of the NCB, thus reducing the number of subsidies granted to British mines. When did Margaret Thatcher become the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain? It was the first time since 1926 that British miners had been on official strike, but there had been a . December 1973: Due to a severe lack of fuel, Edward Heath announced that most commercial and industrial establishments could only use electricity three days a week. After all, bituminous coal is thought to be the most popular residential fuel [], As a fossil fuel, our supplies of coal are limited and this means that we will eventually run out. The proximate cause of the 1984-85 miners' strike, the longest mass strike in British history, was a round of colliery closures announced by the National Coal Board (NCB, now British Coal) in March 1984 as part of the restructuring of the British coal mining industry. Just 7,285 had voted to strike. "We sat for hours talking about it when we got home, but I'd rather have him at home with me than six feet under, so we had to do what we had to do.". Britains economy received the kick start that it needed, and by the early 90s, coal mining across the UK had been privatised. Wedding Kirstenbosch Gardens, Taffy Nivert Obituary, Obituary 2020 Death, Articles OTHER