WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:03.879 In March nineteen eighty four, coal miners in Britain walked 2 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:06.879 out on strike against the pit closure plan of Margaret 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:11.480 Thatcher's Conservative government. Miners, wives and other women started support 4 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.640 groups up and down the country which were instrumental in 5 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.280 helping the workers hold out for nearly a year in 6 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.640 an iconic dispute which changed Britain forever. This is working 7 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:33.439 class history. Now, before we get into the main episode, 8 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.159 some eagle eared listeners may remember hearing our episode about 9 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:40.520 women in the minor strike before. Now, like all of 10 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.000 our original episodes, it was basically made up of raw 11 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.399 audio from our interview so there wasn't any narrative to 12 00:00:47.399 --> 00:00:51.200 fill gaps or explain context and kind of draw the 13 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.079 story together into a whole. So, in addition to working 14 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:58.200 on new episodes for you, we're also going back over 15 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:01.439 our earliest episodes to re we edit and release them 16 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.239 in the new narrative format we use for all of 17 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:08.239 our later episodes. So the interview audio today is going 18 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:10.760 to be the same quality as before, but they'll be 19 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:14.480 added narrative with better quality audio to explain things and 20 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.519 hopefully tell the story in a more cohesive manner. So 21 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:20.680 we hope you enjoy it. As a reminder, our podcast 22 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:23.879 is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters 23 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:26.760 fund our work and in return get exclusive early access 24 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:30.560 to podcast episodes without ads, bonus episodes every month, free 25 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:34.439 and discounted merchandise and other content. For example, our supporters 26 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.200 can listen to both parts of this double episode now. 27 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.159 So if you can, please join our community and help 28 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:43.760 keep our collective history of struggle alive. You can learn 29 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:46.920 more and sign up at patreon dot com slash working 30 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.959 class history link in the show notes. We're working on 31 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.560 a podcast mini series about the MINUS strike from the 32 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.200 perspective of MINUS themselves at the moment, So for today, 33 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:58.879 I'm just going to give a very brief bit of 34 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:02.239 the historical background. At the beginning of the nineteen eighties, 35 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:06.280 coal miners in the National Union of Mine Workers NUM 36 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:09.360 were the best organized and most militant section of the 37 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:13.439 working class in Britain. As detailed in our episode eighty one, 38 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.879 miners had held successful nationwide strikes in nineteen seventy two 39 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.759 and nineteen seventy four, when they won big pay increases 40 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:25.400 and brought down the Conservative government of Edward Heath. With 41 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.960 the election of Thatcher in nineteen seventy nine. Her Conservative 42 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.400 Party were determined to reshape the UK from a more 43 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:36.319 social democratic state with high levels of state ownership and 44 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:39.759 where working people were organized and had some economic power, 45 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.120 to a more neoliberal one where there was more widespread 46 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:46.479 private ownership and there was a more atomized working class 47 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:50.520 which wasn't able to exert its own power. Thatcher's strategy 48 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.719 was to isolate different groups of workers and defeat them 49 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.120 one by one. The most important group of workers they 50 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:59.680 would need to beat were the miners, who up until 51 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.199 that point had shown that they were willing and able 52 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:05.560 to confront the state and win. To do this, the 53 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.000 government planned to provoke a strike at a time which 54 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.439 would be favorable for them, so shortly after their election, 55 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.479 when winter was almost over, coalstocks were high and energy 56 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.919 use was low, because both the nineteen seventy two and 57 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:21.680 seventy four strikes took place at the height of winter, 58 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.680 when coalstocks were depleted and energy use was high, and 59 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.439 most electricity at the time was from coal fired power stations, 60 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.360 so they would announce a plan to close pits and 61 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.680 layoff miners, to which the nun would have to respond 62 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:38.560 with a strike. The government's hope was that they'd then 63 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:40.800 be able to sit out the strike until the miners 64 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.599 and their families, not earning any wages, were basically stafved 65 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:48.000 back to work. To this aim, the government stoppard enough 66 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:51.759 coal and coke to last six months and slashed state 67 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:55.039 benefits that would have been available to strikers and their families. 68 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:57.919 But if the government thought that the workers would be 69 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:01.360 forced back to work within six months, then they would 70 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:04.960 turn out to be deeply mistaken, perhaps because they didn't 71 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.439 factor in the support for miners which would come from 72 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:09.000 their wives and other women. 73 00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:11.879 I was a member of the Labor Party, quite active 74 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.919 in politics, and I was working at the local council 75 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.000 offices in the housing department, and my husband was a 76 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.720 plumber who worked full time and we had two children. 77 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.560 This is Heatherwood, who was living in Easington, County Durham 78 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:29.480 in the northeast of England and later became chair of 79 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:31.360 the Easington Women's Support Group. 80 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:35.800 In the eighty three, I was chair of the constituency 81 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.720 Labor Party and we had heard rumors that pitts were 82 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.800 going to clause in our area and our district, so 83 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.560 we decided that we needed to inform people and we 84 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:51.360 set up the constituency had an open public meeting and 85 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:56.319 we established how many people were interested in having to 86 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:00.120 fight for the community and fight to say of jobs, 87 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:05.399 and we set up an organization called Save Easington Area Mains. 88 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.839 We call it Scene for Shot and it was that 89 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:14.399 same year eighty three when we had what were then 90 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.279 the biggest rally of MINUS banners outside of the Doha Big Meeting, 91 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:19.480 and it was in Easington. 92 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.040 This big meeting is also known as the Durham Minus Gala, 93 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.879 a legendary gathering of miners and their supporters which has 94 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:29.079 taken place almost every July since eighteen seventy one. 95 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.759 PATCHA that amazing and from there we just went on 96 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:36.920 giving our public informations to what the cost to our 97 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.439 villages would be if the mines. 98 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.600 Caused Around the country. Miners and their supporters stepped up 99 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.759 organizing campaigns against pit closures, and in October nineteen eighty 100 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.879 three NUM delegates voted to fight all pit closures other 101 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.680 than ones where coal at the pit had been exhausted. 102 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.279 In March nineteen eighty four, the government announced that collieries 103 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:01.360 in Yorkshire would be closed and work that immediately walked 104 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.639 out on wildcat strike. They were soon joined by a 105 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:08.319 majority of MINUS nationwide, and within a few days the 106 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:13.120 NUM called an official national strike. Right away, activists like 107 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.160 Heather began supporting the strike and raising funds to help 108 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:17.000 the workers. 109 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:20.560 Of course, along in early eighty four came the strike 110 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.680 and my own village, the pitch voter to come out 111 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.879 on strike. My husband and I said, well, two things. 112 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.800 We wanted somebody to fight the government. The second one 113 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.319 and the main one was we want our community to 114 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:38.000 remain as it is close in this community who help 115 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:41.720 each other. So we decided that we'd give five pounds 116 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:44.879 a week to the fund. But as with everything in 117 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.560 my life, it was like topsy. It grew and grew 118 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.240 and grew, and I decided a couple of weeks into 119 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:56.000 the strike, I mentioned at the scene meeting that we 120 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.800 needed to get at the women in the mining communities 121 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:03.639 because without the women, the men would not stay out 122 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.560 on strike because, contrary to public beliefs, MINUS wives are 123 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.600 not held down the rule and if their wives had 124 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:13.399 said you go back, with the how to go back. 125 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.519 So what I said was all the literature that was 126 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.759 coming out to the villages then to the houses as 127 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.920 minus was from the union, so it was more than 128 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:26.759 likely to be read by the men and not the 129 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:30.240 women of the house. So we got together three of us, 130 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:34.680 Dave Temple, Brian Blanchard himselves in our house would put 131 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:39.439 together a letter for every woman in Easington district. We 132 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.040 had to do that because there nobody had a list 133 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.040 of where each miner lived in the district, so we 134 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.279 just decided to live at every house. We had a 135 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:52.199 meeting of women in the council offices of Asent in village. 136 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.920 The council chamber was absolutely full with women. It was 137 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.800 wonderful to say that so many wanted to be part 138 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.959 of and wanted to support and stand beside the husbands 139 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:06.000 and or the brothers or the fathers. And from there 140 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:10.160 we formed the first Apartmentroup, which was in Easington Colliery. 141 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:14.120 In mining communities up and down Britain, other women, particularly 142 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:17.800 miners wives, also started organizing groups to support the strike. 143 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.000 They were raising money, setting up soup kitchens and gathering 144 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:25.439 and distributing parcels of food for strikers and their families. 145 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:27.360 The same happened in Easington. 146 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.879 I went to the miner's lodge at Easington, just to 147 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:34.000 let them know what we were doing, and just as 148 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:36.320 in a side, the two of us women had to 149 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:41.679 sit outside of the meeting while the men decided whether 150 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:46.840 a woman could come into the lodge meeting. And after 151 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:48.720 about half an hour the debate had gone on and 152 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:51.519 came out and said we could enter. And I remember 153 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.240 saying too, while I'm coming into the secretary of the lodge. 154 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:56.840 Once I'm in, I'm not going back, you know, And 155 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.879 he last, and it was true, because we went from 156 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.480 strength to strength. But we set up from there. We 157 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:08.639 went to all the different communities in Easington District and 158 00:09:08.679 --> 00:09:13.639 some beyond and had set up support groups there, and 159 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.480 I attended lodge meetings to let the managers know what 160 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.879 each of those groups were doing. We ended off. We 161 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:23.000 set up in Easington District fourteen support groups which either 162 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:27.879 provided food that by with a meal each day or 163 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.039 food parcels where they couldn't provide a meal, but the 164 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.879 would raise funds for food parcels. And I'm pleased to 165 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.360 say that I can now speak of my own community, Easington. 166 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:43.799 We had our free cast within Easington Collie Workman's Club 167 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.600 and for a year we fed people one mile a 168 00:09:47.720 --> 00:09:51.600 day for five days a week, and during the school holidays, 169 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:53.879 I wrote to the county council to ask you for 170 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.360 good yuse yeah the school kitchens, and I'm police to 171 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.720 say they said yes. So that made life so much easier. 172 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:03.960 For instance, my mother was an ex cook for school meals, 173 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:07.679 so she knew the school kitchen as well. And for 174 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.519 the six weeks we were able to provide a really 175 00:10:10.519 --> 00:10:13.919 good mail for those children, and the mom and dad 176 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.639 used to pay for and my mom would make a 177 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.919 dessert for the children, so the adults didn't go desert 178 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.080 for that six weeks, but the children got looked after. 179 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:26.360 We raised funds from all over the world and in fact, 180 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:30.840 in Babish Museum there is a section that's called the 181 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:35.759 head of Wood collection and that has every photograph for 182 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:39.960 every press cutting, every notice that we sent out to 183 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:44.279 people about the striking, giving them information on where you 184 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.240 could go to get this family other with regards especially 185 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:51.000 to school uniforms after some holidays, so it was a 186 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:55.639 busy year. Christmas we did all sorts of Christmas and 187 00:10:55.960 --> 00:10:58.120 we kept going for a year, and I'm proud to 188 00:10:58.120 --> 00:10:59.440 say I was part of it. 189 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.679 Women all over the country were involved in support groups, 190 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:06.559 organizing and also taking to the streets. In May nineteen 191 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:09.559 eighty four, up to twelve thousand women from support groups 192 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.639 marched through the streets of Barnsley against the pit closures. 193 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:16.720 Were out actively working in the groups. There were no 194 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.279 more than a dozen women in each of the fourteen groups. 195 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:23.120 But the important thing to remember is it wasn't just 196 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.440 the women who came out and did something in the 197 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:28.519 support groups that kept the strike going. It was the 198 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.679 women in the houses where they had to keep the 199 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.759 household going on very very little money, and that wasn't 200 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.159 an easy task. So you're I mean you talked about 201 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:44.000 every miner's wife was involved and was active in the 202 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:47.399 sense that they motivated their husbands to stay on strike. 203 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.600 The may have gone and stood to where the pigot 204 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.039 buses off on a morning, or to welcome them back 205 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.919 on a night. So they were active even though they 206 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:02.799 weren't out making meals being organized as far as fundraisings concerned. 207 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.559 But I have to say the women in the support groups, 208 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.559 a lot of them weren't politically motivated. When they started. 209 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:14.559 It was to save their communities and save their futures. 210 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.960 For their children and their grandchildren, so it was very 211 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.240 difficult to talk to them about the political side of 212 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:24.639 the strike. But as the weeks went on and there 213 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.720 was sort of drip said about what was happening, they 214 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.519 started to ask questions, and they started to want to 215 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:34.639 board a place where there was political discussion and to 216 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.159 want to be on the pickup lines. And some of 217 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.679 them actually spoke in public meetings which they had never 218 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:45.120 ever done before, gone on television and being interviewed. Helped 219 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.000 to put together a book, The Last quarterse of Spring, 220 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.799 which was poems and songs and short stories written by 221 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.919 the women of Easington. They were approached by Northern Arts 222 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.759 to have a right to be in residence. Margaret Heine 223 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:04.279 came and she wrote a play Not by Bread Alone 224 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:10.200 about the minor strike, and that was performed around the Northeast. 225 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.399 Then it went to London, then it went to the 226 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:18.840 Lamplish Theater in Germany and Oldenburg University. So they were 227 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.600 big things from women who came out to make a 228 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:28.279 mail for a few hundred people. They'd ended off organizing 229 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:29.720 all this themselves. 230 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.360 Fantastic involvement in the strike started to have a transformative 231 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.440 effect on the lives of many of the women. 232 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.799 Definitely. It is as I say, At the beginning, they 233 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:42.480 wanted to make males, which is very important. But as 234 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:45.039 time went on, they wanted to know more of what 235 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:47.799 was going on with the strike, the political side of 236 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.759 the strike, and they wanted to go and stand on 237 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:54.559 the picquet line and fight for the jobs in the community. 238 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:57.720 That way, they didn't necessarily want to go and speak 239 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:01.879 on television or in meetings. They did it in the 240 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:03.679 end because I was doing it all and I said, 241 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:05.360 it's just too much. You're going to have to have 242 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:07.000 your names and I have to manage your turn. You 243 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:11.519 do it, and thank god they did. One woman who 244 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.080 was one of the quietest people you wished to meet. 245 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:17.200 She ended off with one of the biggest rallies in Middlesbrough, 246 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:20.879 with Tony Ben on the platform with her and all 247 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.039 she said was I work for British call im a cleaner, 248 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.480 and I'm on strike. My husband's a miner, he's on strike. 249 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:32.360 We have two children. Can you help us now? The 250 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.240 crowd erupted. It was obvious that woman wasn't used to 251 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:39.240 being where she was. But after that that woman went 252 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:41.799 to Greenham Common. She came on rallies with US. I 253 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:45.000 was on the pickup line. She wasn't frightened to speak up. 254 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.480 Greenham Common was a women's peace camp set up in 255 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.159 protest at US cruise missiles being stationed at the Berkshire 256 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:53.200 Royal Air Force Base. 257 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:57.399 That made all the difference there. So instead of coming 258 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.559 out and doing a job and then going home quietly, 259 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.399 you know, sort of it's a bit like they changed 260 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:06.360 the world but hadn't realized that had so they just 261 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.320 went back to what they were doing. Where in the 262 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:12.559 strike it continued on, it grew. Some of them went 263 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.080 on to be well. Julianna Heaven she was. I think 264 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:19.960 she's been made twice. She's from the South Heaton support 265 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.720 group when she hadn't really been involved in politics before 266 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:28.000 the strike, and she's still involved. You know, the people 267 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.960 like her who've continued on the fight. There's women who 268 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:35.240 went on to parish councils or who just became more 269 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.120 active in the community, to involuntary work, fundrais and for 270 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:43.320 whatever organizing. And I think that's that's important to know 271 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:46.960 that those women, although there were doing it before, they 272 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.519 did things very quietly. Now the shout more and said 273 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.200 look this is what we do and you better write 274 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:54.759 it all down. It needs to be written for history. 275 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.879 In mining communities, women's activism contributed to a shift in 276 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.879 family and gender and ynamics. As a note here for 277 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:05.639 non UK English speakers, bends is another word for children. 278 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:09.200 I think it was strange at first. Nobody ever really 279 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:12.919 said anything, but it was strange to something because it 280 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:14.759 was out of the ordinary for them to do. I mean, 281 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.720 the hour hours, it was just something that happened. I 282 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:22.120 was always out doing something politically, but it was something 283 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.240 that changed. Now. Got no doubt that it would have 284 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:27.360 been difficult because of the men. This is where it 285 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:31.799 comes in the masculinity to me, because it's not even 286 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:35.159 the masculinity, just the fact that they would normally be 287 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:38.159 at work, but now we they had time on the hands. 288 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:40.399 So they were taking the children to school, they were 289 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:42.639 staying at the school gates to pick the bends up. 290 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.720 You know, they were housekeeping because a lot of the 291 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:50.039 women went and got part time jobs factories and in shops, 292 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:53.919 so they were now looking after the household. So there's 293 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:57.279 boundary of being some because I mean, if it was 294 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:59.120 in our house, I'd be saying with John, couldn't do 295 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:00.600 it as well as our cou so there would be 296 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:05.680 a grow there part from having no money. So there's 297 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:09.240 boundary of being. And I know as we went into 298 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:12.640 the strike, as the months went by, the women in 299 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.000 our support group in Eavenson, that and fakeful. Now they 300 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:20.599 were getting quite despondent and the money was getting really 301 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:25.319 short and bills were coming in, so tempers were getting fraught. 302 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:30.119 And I remember there were a few barneys just within 303 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.359 the women, and I'd said, I'll tell you what when 304 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.200 we meet every Thursday, which we did to organize the 305 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.559 following week, just when you're at home, right down, how 306 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.559 are you feeling about something, or just come and speak 307 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:48.039 on it at our next meeting. And they did that, 308 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:52.960 and that's where and then there was some really humding arguments. 309 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:55.480 But what I said was, you do that in the 310 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.640 meeting and then you walk out. The cause is bigger 311 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.039 than you and your argument with whoever. We united when 312 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.240 we walk out that job, and do you know what worked? 313 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:10.319 It actually worked. And from there they did write songs, stories, 314 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:15.160 poems and they were published. So out of all that, 315 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.920 Agro came something that was really good. But the women 316 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.960 were stronger, they worked better together and they put together 317 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.880 a book which they would never have done. Probably, So yes, 318 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.599 I think there's been arguments. I've got no doubt about that, 319 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:32.799 because it must be strange you're changing roles completely. They 320 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:37.039 were divorces bought in the may and everybody was united, 321 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.079 all stood. 322 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.920 Together despite the match. How the image many people have 323 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.640 of mining towns, women there have always played active roles 324 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:45.559 in their communities. 325 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.880 I think that's a fallacy because, as I say, the 326 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.920 women have always when you look back in the history 327 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.680 of mining communities, it's always been the women who've come 328 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:58.640 out to get things done. For instance, we needed when 329 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:00.839 I was a little girl, I can remember there were 330 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.440 no indoor toilets and bathroom so it was the women 331 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.000 who took to the streets and blockaded the men road 332 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.920 to the pit with their pushchairs and prams and whatever 333 00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:16.240 to fight for the core board to fit bathrooms and 334 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:20.119 indoor toilets to the Polly properties and the one. 335 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:24.279 Women also played important roles in previous big industrial disputes, 336 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.279 particularly during the General Strike of nineteen twenty six. 337 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:31.599 I think because mine has come across as there were 338 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:35.559 very strong men and the women don't necessarily come out 339 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:38.240 and say, oh, we do this. We do that. It 340 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:41.480 doesn't mean the we'ren't doing it, that we're doing it. 341 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:44.759 In the home, they looked after the money, the husband 342 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:48.279 tipped the money up, They looked after all the bills 343 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:50.519 and there were very few who didn't do that. 344 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.960 In addition to providing material support for the strike in 345 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:57.240 terms of money and food, many women joined picket lines 346 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.559 to help physically prevent scam replacement workers getting to work, 347 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:04.440 including in Easington. Often, mind bosses would make it difficult 348 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.799 for strikers to effectively pick it, so they would mark 349 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.680 mine property with yellow lines to allow space for scabs 350 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.200 to get in. Then if mine is trying to pick 351 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.039 it cross those lines, they could be fired. But the 352 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:19.000 women weren't employed by the mines, so they couldn't be 353 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:20.440 disciplined or sacked. 354 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.400 I used to go down every morning to my children 355 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:28.799 down and as for instance, for August twenty fourth, nineteen 356 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:33.119 eighty four, Easington was taken over by police and that 357 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.440 was because on the evening of August twenty third, Peace 358 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.119 Merchant Tory MP was on the news saying why is 359 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:43.799 it Dome Constabulary. It can't get one man in at 360 00:20:43.880 --> 00:20:46.960 Easington pit because there had been bring them to the 361 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:49.440 village more or less in you know, you've tried and 362 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:53.240 allowed just go home. But the next morning after peace, 363 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.920 Merchant said that I went to take my children to 364 00:20:55.960 --> 00:21:00.240 school and our village green, which is enormous, was with 365 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:05.440 black It was full of place. And we got further 366 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.359 down the road and then with a police called, and 367 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:08.920 so I had to stop and tell them where we 368 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.160 were going. And I said, I'm going to be mom 369 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.839 to drop the children off, and he said, okay, you 370 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:17.519 can go, and just as we were passing before I 371 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.400 got the window wound up. The younger son shouted, but 372 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:22.160 ma'm you didn't tell them we were going to the 373 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.319 picket lines first, and I could have killed him. But 374 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:29.200 that was me going to the picket lines. But there 375 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.720 were other women who went, and they went a lot 376 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:34.920 more than maybe because I was working. They went and 377 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.279 stood and gid. One of the things we always say 378 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:41.440 is they were arrest women because we were shouting scab. 379 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:44.200 So we put half the women at one side of 380 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:47.000 the road and half of the other, and one half 381 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:51.000 shouted scaf and the others shouted ab. So we've got 382 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:56.519 it in news eventually, and we couldn't be arrested. My 383 00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:59.200 mum was on the picket line the day the first 384 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.599 man went back at Asington Colliery, who lived in Asington, 385 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:07.599 and she saw the women would tell her maybe because 386 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:11.240 I wasn't there. She said, I can't shout scab, so 387 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:14.480 she said she shouted, come on, bunny, lad, don't go 388 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.559 back in, and as it happened, he didn't go. And 389 00:22:17.640 --> 00:22:21.839 my mamma always says it's because she just shouted, come on, body, lad, 390 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:26.920 don't go in. But yeah, it was life changing. I 391 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:30.279 think paper funother side of life, and started to want 392 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.079 to organize the pickets rather, you know, try to organize 393 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.839 the men and get as much activity as we could 394 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:38.599 along by the pit. 395 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.279 There were reports of some male and UM members turning 396 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:45.519 women away from picket lines, believing that they were dangerous 397 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.920 and no place for women, but still women continued to 398 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.000 turn up. Some women organized themselves into groups of flying pickets, 399 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:56.799 traveling to working pits in places like Nottingham Sure where 400 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.599 a majority of miners were scabbing on. The strike responded 401 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:04.759