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‘Recharging the batteries for the fight that will continue’
Matt Trinder talks to Durham Miners’ Association general secretary ALAN MARDGHUM about the 2023 Durham Miners’ Gala, taking place this weekend
Durham Miners’ Association general secretary Alan Mardghum

“I CAN’T understand why anyone wouldn’t be in a union, but I was brought up in a culture of trade unionism. Kids today are not. You’ve got zero-hour contracts, you’ve got workplaces that are not the same as they used to be in the pits or the shipyards, where industrial communities used to socialise together.

“We need to get back to the grassroots and explain why we’re stronger together. If you’re not in a union, join a union — rise up!”

Rise up is a very appropriate theme for this weekend’s Durham Miners’ Gala, which barring world wars and pandemics, has hit the streets of the city in England’s north-east every 12 months for more than 150 years.

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