Zone d'identification
Type d'entité
Forme autorisée du nom
forme(s) parallèle(s) du nom
Forme(s) du nom normalisée(s) selon d'autres conventions
Autre(s) forme(s) du nom
Numéro d'immatriculation des collectivités
Zone de description
Dates d’existence
Historique
In November 1971 the National Union of Mineworkers began an overtime ban following the breakdown of pay negotiations. The Union held a strike ballot, and gave the National Coal Board (NCB) four weeks notice of strike action to begin on 9 Jan 1972. The NCB's final offer of a pay rise of 7.9% was rejected by the NUM, which also rejected arbitration. In the first few days of the strike the miners successfully concentrated on securing the support of the transport unions, and stopping the movement of coal. The weak spot was road transport, which was not fully unionised, and there were considerable numbers of hauliers willing to cross picket lines. There were serious clashes, particularly at the Coalite Smokeless Fuel plant at Grimethorpe in Yorkshire, where road tankers moving fuel had been pelted with coke. Some 300 miners had were involved in the Grimethorpe picket, and the tactic of the mass picket became the standard tactic of the Yorkshire miners.
After three weeks of industrial action the miners were having an impact beyond their wildest expectations. There were over 1000 'flying pickets' in East Anglia, and every pit, coal dump, port and coal installation in the country was covered by NUM pickets. With the movement of coal halted the pickets then concentrated on the movement of oil and other supplies to power stations. The arrival of colder weather at the end of January forced increasingly frequent power cuts, and lay offs in industry. Solidarity with the miners was undamaged, and they enjoyed a considerable degree of public sympathy. The Government declared a state of emergency to deal with the crisis.
All attempts at a settlement foundered on the NUM's demand for more on basic pay rates, which required Government approval. In February the Government appointed a Court of Inquiry under Lord Wilberforce, to find a settlement. The Wilberforce report recommended a 'general and exceptional' pay increase for miners, this was accepted by all parties, and picketing ended on 22 February 1972.