Coal miners resist destruction of industry

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British miners Jim Robinson is Strike Coordinator for Bi itish miners in the South Nottingham area and wor is at the Cotgrave mine there. He was interviewed in San Francisco on Oct. 16, 1984, by Alan Benjamin and Nat Weinstein.

Socialist Action: Can you tell us about your tour of the United States?

Jim Robinson: Nottingham University, which sponsored our trip here, insisted that a woman, a young miner, and an older miner be on the tour, so that we could give people over here a picture of all aspects of the strike. As you can guess, I'm the older miner. We spoke at a number of places: Penn State University, Morgantown University, and in Charleston, W. Va.

S. A.: Did you speak before any union locals?

J. R.: Yes, I spoke to a steelworkers' local in Pittsburgh, Pa.—Ron Wiesen's local. They immediately identified the miners' struggle in England with their own particular struggle, because the steel industry has been decimated in America, as it has in England.

S. A.: Have you spoken to coal miners during your tour?

J. R.: We did visit one picket line in Kentuckycoal miners-and we told them about the strike in England. They were pleased to receive the information.

I'll let you into a little secret. lan MacGregor, an American who runs the coal industry in England, is continually holding up the U.S. mining industry as an example. In England we're given the impression that the American coal miner never strikes. MacGregor doesn't tell people that he tried to smash the mineworkers in Harlan County, Ky., in 1974 and that he's using the same tactics in Great Britain S. A.: What is the main idea that you are explaining on your tour?

J. R.: First of all we tell people that we're not on strike over pay, working conditions, or contract ratification, but to defend ourselves against the destruction of our industry. The present British government has no plans to build coal-fired power stations over the next 20 years, but they have a program to build 20 nuclear plants. The ultimate idea is to close the coal industry down because of the traditionally militant role that the National Union of Mineworkers has played in the trade-union movement in England.

S. A.: It was announced that 20,000 jobs will be Cost to be lost. Is his ers, end ray say on as 70i000 could be lost. Is this the central question as miners see it today!

J.R.: Yes. In England, just as in the United States when the bosses run down the steel industry, the communities around that industry are destroyed. In "Women are playing a role equal to the miners.

America, though it's becoming less and less likely, a worker might have the opportunity to go elsewhere and get a job. When you're laid off in England, you're finished. There is nowhere else to go for a job.

We say invest in the pits and make them "economic" once again. The Thatcher government planned what they call a "planners' stockpile" to use against striking miners whenever they chose to pick an industrial fight with the workforce. They planned to stockpile the coal five years ago. Every winter old people are left to freeze to death. But we coal miners say, if we've got surplus coal, let's give it to the pensioners for nothing.

S. A.: Have the miners raised the idea of a shorter work week to answer the problem of layoffs caused by increased technology?

J. R.: We say that if you do mechanize mines and it requires fewer workers, then there should be fewer work days in these mines. That's definitely one of the top priorities. Mr. McGregor says he has offered 6 SOCIALIST ACTION NOVEMBER 1984 miners a certain amount of money to compensate laid-off workers. Why doesn't he bring the retirement age down and give us a decent pension at age 55? We want to advance benefits to all workers in industry-not just those selected few who get offered redundancy pay.

S. A.: It's obvious to many of us that Thatcher is trying to break the union movement by breaking the miners. What kind of solidarity has been expressed in England with the miners' strike? And what position did the recent Labor Party conference take on the miners' strike?

J. R.: As an act of support and solidarity, 99 percent of all train drivers do not move coal-even in Nottingham, which is the biggest scabbing area there is. The dockworkers refuse to handle imported coal. They've had two dock strikes. And from day one some seamen have refused to handle ships that import coal.

There are two other important factors in maintaining this strike: the role of young people and the participation of women. I've never seen before rallies of 10,000 to 20,000 women showing their support. Women are playing a role equal to that of the miners in the strike.

As far as the Labor Party is concerned, it must come to terms with the fact that its grass roots have been supporting us from the start. The party membership has told the leaders: "You will announce our support."

Labor Party branches in every single town-even in Nottingham-have supported the miners throughout this strike and have insisted on supporting groups that collect food and money and build rallies.

S. A.: Is there coal from other countries going to Britain?

J. R.: I understand that there is-South African coal, American coal, Polish coal. England and America both have a policy of trade embargo against South Africa. Yet South Africa's coal industry is expanding at a far greater rate than any coal industry in the world. I say, "Practice what you preach!" American companies are investing in South African mines; British companies are investing in South African mines. What we're saying is: "Invest in the industry that is in your country rather than in the slave trade in South Africa."

In our strike center we received a letter from some Polish mine workers who apologized for the fact that Polish coal was being used to scab on British miners. They totally condemned the military regime in Poland for trying to break the miners' strike. In spite of the opposition of the Polish government, those workers also identify with our struggle.

Australia, on the other hand, will not allow the export of coal into Britain during the present miners' strike. That's another tremendous act of solidarity, because Australia of exporters of coal.

S. A.: Has an injunction against picketing utilized, and have the threats to use force to picketing been carried out?

J. R.: The police have been out hammering miners from the beginning. Up until two weeks ago, the figures released showed 6850 miners arrested on picket lines. Of those, 2500 required medical attention because of police brutality, and there were two deaths.

They didn't need the courts and their injunctions. All that the courts have done is to justify the brutality. The miners in England are of the opinion that no court is going to rule in the favor of anybody who is taking on the government and the bosses. We've had 15 different court decisions now, and they mean as much to the miners out on strike as the bribes that have been offered to them about returning to work.

When you've been hit a few times it doesn't take long to realize that the policeman has got backing. He's been told to do it. He's been equipped and trained to hammer the hell out of you. So he's got the law on his side. In court today in Britain, instead of reading your name out, they just call you by number. Supermarket justice.

S. A.: We understand that the union has been threatened with confiscation of their funds if it violates the injunction against picketing?

J. R.: That was always a threat. The president of our union, Arthur Scargill, answered them. He said, "If we have to work through a public telephone, so be it."

They can take our money, they can take our buildings, but we'll still be the National Union of Mineworkers, and we'll still have the support of the public in Great Britain.

They won't defeat us. When you take money from a businessman, tears immediately flood his eyes. When you take from a miner or any working person who believes in his struggle, he'll shed no tears as long as he's got a square meal for his family. They've already taken my money, so they can take the union's money, but they can't take away the organization of the National Union of Miners. That will always be there, because we support it 100 perS. A.: The strike began seven months ago. Thatcher, MacGregor, and others thought that they could break the strike before winter. Do you think you have a pretty good chance now to make the government give in?

J. R.: There will be cuts after Christmas without a doubt. Thatcher said that coal is too expensive to burn. And yet they switched as many power stations as they could from coal to oil, and oil is twice as expensive as coal. So that throws their economic argument out the window. When the power cuts occur this winter, 130,000 miners and their supporters will be dancing in the streets. The cuts won't turn public support against us, because it's Thatcher who continually said that everything is under control. So the repercussions will reflect on her and her handling of the strike.

When the government forced this strike they forgot—as MacGregor did in the Harlan County, Ky., strike-that miners, whether they be in the United States or in the United Kingdom, can be very determined people. They've shown their determination by the hardship they've suffered.

S. A.: What can our readers do to help the strikers!

J. R.: One important thing is to send letters of support for the British miners to the national headquarters. Or, better yet, send them to individual strike centers—to the grass roots. Our local NUM Strike Center is located at 218 Mansfield Road, Nottingham, England. We have our own rank-and-file newsletter, the Nott Striker, and one section of it is set aside for solidarity work and support in England and abroad. If we receive letters from abroad we publish them, because it's a tremendous morale booster.

Donations can be sent as well. If checks are sent to my area, they must specifically say "Nott Central Strike Fund.

We have been encouraged by the national union to set up our own strike funds, because previously we had only appealed for money on a national level, and the courts are seizing that national money. • been limit

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ACTION

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Rallles of 20,000 women have shown their support."

MINE COALI CURATUM.