Indus Spec
Socialist Organiser1983 1983-03-03Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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The present action began on Monday 21st, when TM-LM came out unilaterally on unofficial strike, and 28 of its miners, including the Lodge Secretary, Des Dutfield, who is also the Area Vice President, started a stay-down in the pit declaring that they would not come up until all of South Wales NUM had been brought out in their support.
TM-LM took this action as a means of overcoming the inaction, and what they described as the 'complacency', of the The NUM has a clear policy of opposition to closures on any grounds other than exhaustion of coal reserves in a particular pit, and the Executive had a mandate to call strike action against such closures since a ballot was carried out last Although armed with this mandate, the Executive has continued talks with the NCB for two months, and has not initiated any resistance to the Board's well-known plans for The decisive move by the miners at TM-LM on Monday of last week forced the Area Executive to call a ballot on the question of an all-out indefinite strike, the ballot to be held At the Area delegates' meeting two days later the pressure from the rank and file, and the denunciation of the Executive, and of Area President Emlyn Williams in particular, was so strong that the ballot was brought forward a day to ThursA press conference addressed by Williams was brought to a halt by a demonstration of 200 miners from TM-LM chanting 'Sold down the river' and 'Out now!' , the decision for a ballot being seen as another delaying tactic, if not an attempt Williams was repeatedly challenged to explain why he and the Executive had not invoked the mandate given by the De- 9,714 in favour of the ac- Weekes argues that this new tion, 7,817 against. Just as drive would be undermined significant, 5,862 of the at the outset by two existing 23,500 miners in South Wales are to the threatened closure of Ty ery in the Rhondda Valley. South Wales Executive.
December.
extensive closures in the coalfield.
the following Friday.
uay.
to prevent wider action altogether.
cember ballot. now on strike in opposition Mawr-Lewis Merthyr colli$TR IAL JOHN HARRIS Des Dutfield: started a sit-down JOHN HARRIS
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HOW THE STRUGGL BEGAN