WORKERS’ RIGHTS MUST BE DEFENDED
SNP MSP Clare Adamson has warned that we cannot repeat the failures of the past and that workers’ rights must be continually defended.
Ms Adamson, MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, was reflecting upon the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike following a debate in the Scottish Parliament.
12 March 2024 marked the 40 years since the official start of the 1984-85 miners’ strike which saw miners stage a walkout against the UK Government’s National Coal Board.
This period saw the biggest post-war industrial dispute. Thousands of miners were pitted Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government which had supported plans to shut coal mines across the UK – resulting in mass unemployment.
Thousands of officers were drafted to police picket lines with violence breaking out throughout the strikes.
Ms Adamson, who grew up in Motherwell and Wishaw, was in secondary school during the time of the strike and recalls the impact that the period had on friends, loved ones, and the wider community.
She said:
“The Thatcher Government pitted workers against one another and tore communities apart. The UK Government moved swiftly to privatise our national industries and utilities.
“The biggest crime was not the closure of the pits. But the failure to provide any kind of fair transition for the workers and communities devastated by Thatcher’s policies.
“The scars of that period run deep in areas like Motherwell and Wishaw. And you can still see the legacy of deindustrialisation in our community.
“As we reflect on the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike, we should give thanks to the workers who endured appalling conditions to secure our energy needs.
“They were betrayed, stigmatised, subject to state violence, and turned against one another in pursuit of vested political interests.
“The closure of Ravenscraig steelworks in 1992, and a repeat of those failures, is what drove me into politics. These dark times remind me that workers’ rights are not a static fact.
“The freedoms we enjoy have been hard won. And they need continued attention and advocacy.
“In the last few years we have seen threats to workers’ rights post-Brexit and anti trade union legislation passed at Westminster.
“It is right that we mark this anniversary but resolve to ensure that these failures are not repeated and our communities are supportive to thrive.”
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