Orgreave, the strike and the fightback: This time we win
A rejuvenated interest in trade unions and the labour movement among younger people shows battles such as Orgreave are not ‘consigned to history’ – but part of an ongoing class struggle that’s still very much alive today, says CHRIS PEACE
AS THE end of Johnson as prime minister is upon us, something else has been happening. People are talking about and taking an interest in trade unions, the miners’ strike and what collectivism is all about.
Last month marked the 38th anniversary of that pivotal day of extreme state-ordered violence at the Orgreave coking plant during the 1984-85 strike, and the streets of Sheffield on June 18 2022 were filled with music, banners and our steadfast supporters.
What was noticeable, though, were the large numbers of young people present, wearing their Orgreave T-shirts, carrying their homemade solidarity banners and sharing conversations with ex-miners and Women Against Pit Closures about their own struggles in 2022.
More from this author
Miners battered by the police in 1984 still await justice as Labour pledges to launch a probe — but will any new inquiry pry loose the BBC’s buried footage and expose the Tory lies that framed innocents, asks CHRIS PEACE
The Tories' attempt to broaden police powers in dealing with protest adds urgency to the call for an enquiry into events at Orgreave, writes CHRIS PEACE
State-led repression during the 1984-85 miners’ strike has a frightening number of similarities to the situation workers and campaigners find themselves in today, writes CHRIS PEACE
Similar stories
Four decades on from the miners’ strike, the OTJC demands an inquiry into police brutality and government lies. Labour's pledge offers us hope, but the fight continues, writes KATE FLANNERY
The police attack on striking miners at will be once again marked as a day of infamy at the annual march and rally of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign in Sheffield next Saturday, writes Morning Star northern reporter PETER LAZENBY
KEITH STODDART introduces a meeting that will remember the most notorious incident of the strike that changed Britain forever
The 40th anniversary of the 1984-5 miners’ strike will bring renewed demands for an inquiry into the brutal police attack on miners at Orgreave in South Yorkshire. PETER LAZENBY reports