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The Battle of Saltley Gate: ‘too strong to hold back’
CHRIS KITCHEN, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, marks the anniversary of a remarkable victory for working-class solidarity when a 'human sea' defied the state
Pickets and police at Saltley Gate
A US onslaught of unprecedented scale has shattered Venezuelan sovereignty and exposed the fragility of the global South as Washington revives the Monroe Doctrine with overwhelming military force, write VIJAY PRASHAD and CARLOS RON
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ALAN SIMPSON looks at the bigger issues behind Trump’s Venezuelan piracy
From the kidnapping of Maduro in Venezuela to Trump’s annexation plans for Greenland: the US is openly relying on imperialism – and paradoxically strengthening its adversaries in the process, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
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THE MINERS’ STRIKE of 1972 was the first time miners had staged a national stoppage since 1926. Its outcome has been labelled “the miners’ greatest victory.”
In 1971 the NUM submitted a pay claim of between £5 and £9 per week (dependent on grade) and the National Coal Board replied with an offer of £1.60 — which reflected the Tory government’s strategy of wage restraint. A national ballot of the miners voted for strike action which started on January 9, 1972.
It was to become an important landmark in working-class history. A key event of the dispute and the one which led to its victorious outcome was the Battle of Saltley Gate which occurred 50 years ago today.
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