Billy Elliot the Forum

All Out! Dancing in Dulais - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHJhbwEcgrA

Even tho' this youtube video is no longer available, the description refers to miners, solidarity and dancin' !

I had no trouble viewing that youtube video.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/th ... 80892.html
This pretty much sums up my views on the totality of the strike....really good article.

That's an excellent article. Thanks for the link, Steven.

I live in Barnsley (not that you'd have guessed from my username ) - one of the major events in the town's history was The Miners' Strike.

Arthur Scargill was born in Barnsley, the strike started at Cortonwood Colliery in Barnsley and the film Brassed Off was filmed here too. Living here day to day you get used to it but I bet people from outside the town would be suprised that some Barnsley folk refer to people from Nottingham/Nottinghamshire 'scabs' in reference to the strike, even now 30 years on.

There's a new film out now called 'Still The Enemy Within': http://the-enemy-within.org.uk/

'Still the Enemy Within is a unique insight into one of history’s most dramatic events: the 1984-85 British Miners’ Strike. No experts. No politicians. Thirty years on, this is the raw first-hand experience of those who lived through Britain’s longest strike. Follow the highs and lows of that life-changing year.'

Longest strike in UK history you say?

That gives me context and sober pause for reflection, for back then I wasn't aware of this. I was working for an airline, in management, at the time. The flight attendants union had given their strike notice, so to keep the operation running so people wouldn't be stranded around the world (and as part of negotiations settlement etc.) the company pulled 90% of its management staff from their regular, paper pushing functions, rapidly trained us and then put us to work on board: safety checks, evacuation training, essential, no frills food and beverage... that's right, scab labour.

As we were taxi-ing away from Heathrow towards the active runway, the captain came on with an announcement to the effect that the airline was incurring a labour disruption so regular inflight services would be reduced and operated by management staff. As we were hurtling down the runway all belted in, a man stood up and started yelling that he had to get off the plane immediately. He spoke with a heavy Scottish accent. We yelled back at him to take his seat just as the aircraft rotated and went airborne.

The man drank with conviction throughout the rest of his trans-atlantic flight.

Turns out he was apparently a very, very senior figure within the labour movement who had unwittingly booked a seat with and boarded an air carrier that was in dispute with some of its contract workers.