VETERANS from the epic 1984-5 miners’ strike marked the 40^th anniversary of the miners’ strike at an exhibition and rally in Coppull, Lancashire, with speakers from the former coalfield and National Women Against Pit Closures.

Organised by Chorley TUC, they shared experiences with activists locally about their role in sustaining the year-long struggle. Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had refused to cross picket lines at Parkside, Wigan and Sutton Manor and Bold collieries in the St Helens area, set up by striking miners from Yorkshire, in March 1984.

They were resisting the threatened closure of pits and consequent devastation of local communities. It marked the start of the year-long miners’ strike that drew support from the labour movement across the world.

Although pits in the Coppull area had closed in the 1960s, there was still a tradition of mining families in the village. Chorley TUC devoted the opening session at the meeting to hearing their experience of the strike.

Arthur Lowe, who at the time was working as a shunter on the pit-top at Parkside colliery, told the meeting: “I was born into a mining family, my dad was a miner and he taught me the golden rule, never cross a picket line. So on day one when pickets were on the gate, I turned back. There was no way I was crossing a picket line.

“Parkside was solid at first, but hardship started to kick in the longer we stayed out. So that was how we started, collecting money and food, going to meetings to speak to other union members.”

As the strike entered its third month nationally, trade unionists and Labour Party women in Chorley initiated a support group which raised funds and helped sustain strikers’ families with weekly food parcels.

Dave Beale from Chorley TUC recalled how in the face of increasing hardship, the support group raised £26,000 “to help stave off the hunger that was a key factor in driving people back to work.” A weekly food parcel was delivered to the 90 striking miners and their families throughout the remainder of the strike.

Miners and their supporters set up a regular picket at Ellerbeck open-cast site on Wigan Lane near Coppull where workers were not in a union and coal extraction continued. Pickets had an early success in turning away lorries delivering fuel oil but police increasingly intervened to prevent effective picketing but failed to stop the picket hut being burned down.

A further session was devoted to solidarity in action and heard from Betty Cook and Heather Wood from National Women Against Pit Closures. 

Wood said: “Thatcher called us the enemy within, but that became a badge of pride for us. When they start to label you like that, it’s because they are scared of you. The Tories were frightened not just of the miners but what the trade union movement together could do.”

Speaking of experiences of the women’s support group locally Julie Anderton said: “We went to a picket line at Bold colliery and we got chased by police on horseback. To this day I still don’t know how we escaped that field.”

Ann Lowe remembered: “We used to get donations of tins from unions overseas and we had to laugh because it always seemed to be meatballs! So we had to get used to that. But we managed, no matter what we were not going to give in. We had so many Christmas presents sent over, the kids couldn’t believe it.”

At a closing discussion on the importance of the miners’ strike for today, many spoke of enduring pride at their part in fighting for future generations to have jobs with decent pay and trade union rights.

There was general agreement about the need for the labour movement to get back to the principles of working-class solidarity which the miners’ strike embodied.

Arthur Lowe said: “We’ve got Rishi Sunak, a multimillionaire who has never done a day’s work in his life, telling us we can’t go to the doctor’s for a sick note. We need shut of the Tories, that’s certain.”

Wood said that the Labour Party had only ever had one socialist leader, “and that was Jeremy Corbyn and he was crucified for daring to speak the truth about what is happening to working people in this country.”

Beale said it was clear that the trade union movement needed a political voice but “the answer won’t come from Labour under Starmer,” so there was a pressing need for socialist representation.

Ginny Jones, NHS trade unionist and a long time campaigner for Chorley Hospital, said: “It was a privilege to be a part of it all and I would not change anything. We just didn’t get enough support from the Labour Party and trade unions nationally. For us the fight goes on.”