Today marks 30 years since the start of the national Miners' Strike. Walkouts began on the 5th March 1984 in protest over proposed pit closures. On 12th March 1984, NUM president Arthur Scargill declared that all members should strike.
Thirty years ago this week the biggest upheaval in post war Welsh history erupted - the 1984 Miners’ Strike.
It was an extraordinary twelve months - a dispute which marked the beginning of the end for an industry which had been at the heart of Welsh pride and culture for well over a century.
Sparked by the economics of coal mining, it became a fight about union power which led to bitter divisions in South Wales colliery communities which last to this day. In the autumn of 1984, the conciliation service ACAS attempted to break the deadlock between the NUM and the Government
HTV’s former industrial correspondent Paul Starling had excellent contacts with both sides and ACAS. In tonight’s Wales this Week he reveals how the late head of ACAS, Pat Lowry, had told him the conciliation team had been amazed the NUM didn’t take the chance to end the strike at that time.
Thirty years ago this week the biggest upheaval in post war Welsh history erupted - the 1984 miners’ strike.
Thirty years ago this week the National Coal Board announced pit closures which led to miners across Wales and the UK going on strike.