Comment on Remember when she fucked up the economy
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 week agowow, that’s crazy. thanks for the video, i just watched it.
if thatchers goal was to close the mines, wouldn’t miners voluntarily not working play into that?
or does strike in this context mean general protest rather than specifically not working?
wewbull@feddit.uk 6 days ago
The purpose of the strike was to raise awareness and make the issue one of public note more than anything else. It didn’t really work in the long run. The pits closed. The communities suffered and they’re still feeling the effects today 40 years later.
The mines needed to go IMHO. The country needed to move on, but the way it was done with absolutely no support was callous and heartless.
We repeatedly face the same problem with industry still running from the Victorian era. This week it’s 2,700 steel-workers at blast furnaces in Scunthorpe. The government are stepping in “to save British steel”, but as part of it they want to modernise. A modern arc furnace only needs about a fifth of the workers (based on Port Talbot having 2,500 job losses when they closed their blast furnaces, but only needing 500 for the new furnace when it opens), so whilst they are “saving steel worker jobs” they’re also planning to let most of them go. The key question is what do those people do instead. Hopefully something less hazardous, but it has to be something.
Varyk@sh.itjust.works 6 days ago
thank you I was wondering about the public reaction to the mines closing, since it does seem like a good thing on its face, no you’re absolutely right that a problem doesn’t need to be handled the hardest way.
interesting to hear about the cycle coming around again with steel workers now.
that was a great write up and an appreciated explanation, have a good one!