Miners strike 1984-85

Communities of resistance unite! The Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre (1980-1994)

Submitted by bambule on Feb 6 2021 17:37

This paper looks into the history of the Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre (EUWC) and the struggles of anti-authoritarian revolutionary groups in Edinburgh during the 1980s and early 1990s. Grassroots and direct action oriented groups started to organise together in the early 1980s against the various attacks on the working class. They were often based in the EUWC and developed highly sophisticated forms of community resistance which culminated in their crucial role in the Poll Tax rebellion.

Internationalism series – Some reflections on the Workers’ Aid to Bosnia campaign

Submitted by AngryWorkersWorld on Oct 23 2020 15:22

Direct Action #26 (July 1985)

Issue #26 of Direct Action, with articles on miners in prison after the strike, planned Europe-wide cuts in the coal industry, abortion and scientific research, a report from a Bolton DAM meeting addressed by a formerly imprisoned miner, racism, industrial news including a strike at Golden Wonder crisps and the Windsor Castle pub in Liverpool, the history and present of the IWW, opposition to nuclear power in Italy, the Fowler review of the benefits system and welfare cuts, football violence, a continued debate about the "Future is Ours" article from issue 21, and more.

Direct Action #24 (April 1985)

Issue #24 of Direct Action, with articles on the end of the miners' strike, nuclear weapons, strategy for miners after the strike, international news from the IWW, the COB in Bolivia, and the Guatemala Coca-Cola dispute, Esperanto, Albert Camus and syndicalism, poverty and the welfare system, cancer, the fighting union SAAWU in South Africa, the free trade union SLOMR in Romania, the history of British syndicalism and the miners, nuclear power, rising energy prices and more.

Direct Action #23 (March 1985)

Issue #23 of Direct Action, with articles on the issues behind the miners' strike, the lack of effective solidarity from other unions, the threat of automation, a Mineworkers' Defence Committee conference dominated by the left groups, Willie Gallacher on direct action, changes to housing benefit payments, a critical look at Derek Hatton and Liverpool's Militant (now Socialist Party)-run council, an IWW strike in New York, Coca-Cola and death squads in Guatemala, free unionism in Romania, the history of the miners and British syndicalism, prisoners of the miners' strike, the anniversary of the Barking hospital dispute, and more.

Direct Action #22 (February 1985)

Issue #22 of Direct Action, with articles on the need for solidarity action with the miners, a report from a conference to plan such action, job cuts on Teesside, the importance of solidarity, Polypipe in Doncaster, the Fitzwilliam Nine trial, Philip Kane on the relevance of anarchism today, reviews of Medway DAM pamphlets on feminism and porn, surrogate mothers and childbirth, prison abolition, syndicalism in Latin America, pollution in the Adriatic sea, the ZZZ and the history of Polish syndicalism, violence and more.

Direct Action #21 (December 1984-January 1985)

Issue #21 of Direct Action, with articles on solidarity with the miners over the Christmas period, the French CNT supporting the miners, the need to smash the state, Cammell Laird shipyard workers in Birkenhead being jailed for occupying, Ghanian sailors occupying a ship in Birkenhead docks, the Bolshevik counter-revolution, a policy document looking at possible outcomes for the class struggle in 1985, an article by Phillip Sansom on syndicalism, Eric Hammond and the EEPTU as an example of "company unionism", and a dispute by Dublin shopworkers refusing to sell South African food.

Direct Action #20 (November 1984)

Issue #20 of Direct Action, with articles on miners and the law, Ian MacGregor, the idea of an international miners' union as "the miners' next step", mutual aid, a strike by NCB repair staff, Burnley Claimants Union, violence and the class war after the Brighton bombing, the development of military robots, the FAU and anarcho-syndicalism in Germany, an anarchist paperseller arrested in Leeds, a letter from the Libertarian Workers Group, "Ireland - Britain's Vietnam", a strike at Disneyland, the death of Ukranian unionist Alexei Nikitin, and more.

Direct Action #19 (October 1984)

Issue #19 of Direct Action, with articles on the politics of the miners' strike, a dockers' strike being called off, low pay among secretarial and clerical staff at the BBC, closures in the steel industry, the 1984 TUC conference, scabs in Kent connected to the Freedom Association, a strike by Asian textile workers in Birmingham at Kewal Brothers, wildcat strikes at the Austin Rover Cowley plant, and a syndicalist critique of both the TUC mainstream and Scargill.

Direct Action #18 (September 1984)

Issue #18 of Direct Action, with articles on the miners' strike, an anarcho-syndicalist perspective on the strike, international solidarity with the strike from the CNT, FAU and IWW, police brutality and pressure from social security, solidarity with the strike from Dutch, French and Polish workers, a fundraising single recorded by striking workers in Bradford, the refounding of the USI in Italy, solidarity with Polish workers, a police raid on 121 Bookshop, an occupation of South London Women's Hospital, international news including class struggle in the USSR, a strike at Phillips Rubber in Manchester, and more.