Polmaise Past and Present
Change
In 1979 the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher began to plan for the large-scale privatisation of the coal industry. The Coal Industry Act of 1980 replaced production targets with financial targets, this meant that uneconomic collieries were closed in order for these high financial targets to be met. The government also implemented the Ridley Report of 1978 in order to prepare for the expected dispute with miners, as well as this coal stocks were increased, the power stations got converted from being coal firing to oil firing, and the import of coal was increased. Additionally transport companies were encouraged to hire non-union drivers, and the benefits for strikers and their families were cut.
In 1984 a year-long miners’ strike began which was an important point in both British and Scottish history. The strike began in Scotland at the Polmaise Colliery in Stirlingshire, after a decision in January by the National Coal Board to close the Polmaise colliery, citing geological faults in the pit, and a lack of demand for Polmaise coal. This strike was originally not supported by the Scottish National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). An official strike was called at Polmaise on the 21st of February 1984, after initially the NUM in Scotland didn’t win a majority vote in support of a strike across all the Scottish pits. The miners at Polmaise tried to persuade others to join the strike. The Polmaise colliery was reported to be the only colliery in the whole of Britain where the support for the strike was so strong that there was no need for pickets during the entirety of the strike.
The NUM did not call a strike ballot for the UK wide strike that began on the 9th of March 1984, after an announcement by the National Coal Board that they would shut down uneconomic collieries across the UK, and bring coal production in line with the demand. As a result of not calling a strike ballot for this, some miners at collieries such as Polkemmet, Killoch and Bilston Glen felt that the strike was illegal, and thus continued to work.
On the 3rd of March 1985, almost a year after the strike began, the miners voted 98 to 91 to end the strike without reaching an agreement with the National Coal Board over the closures of the collieries. The strike officially ended on the 5th of March 1985.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallin,_Stirling
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http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/1167
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_miners%27_strike_(1984%E2%80%9385)
