Louise Nousratpour
Sunday November 8, 2009
The Morning Star
The left must draw lessons from the 1984 miners' strike and their "exemplary sense of unity" in order to mount an effective fightback against today's attacks on workers, a veteran of that struggle insisted on Saturday.
Durham Miners Association general secretary Davey Hopper gave a stirring account of the miners' titanic battle during an emotionally charged session at the Communist University in Croydon.
He hailed Arthur Scargill as "one of the greatest working-class leaders" and laid the blame for the tragic defeat squarely at the feet of the TUC and Labour leadership who he said had "betrayed" the miners.
"We appreciated unions' financial support at the time, but what we really needed was solidarity action," he said.
The consequent destruction of the industry in mining communities has left a new generation of young people "with no job prospects and vulnerable to fascist propaganda," Mr Hopper warned.
He described the "squalid conditions, the degradation, the drug abuse and the crime" still plaguing those communities, adding: "The biggest employers in Durham and neighbouring Oldham is now the territorial army - war is what our youngsters are left with."
Mr Hopper argued that the miners' defeat weakened the working class as a whole and paved the way for the anti-union laws and the rise of new Labour.
"We must learn the lessons and act upon them," he stressed. "That means taking solidarity action with workers who fight for their jobs in today's crisis."
The Morning Star's political correspondent at the time Andrew Murry agreed.
"The miners' strike exemplified the collective sense of unity, discipline and self sacrifice - human qualities which we must revisit to advance in today's struggles," he said.
He criticised the Communist Party for "trailing behind a reformism approach" during the strike, adding: "It must now step up to show political leadership and challenge class collaberationism."
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