Joe Owens Archive | ETOL Main Page
From Militant, No. 692, 23 March 1984, p. 5.
Transcribed by Iain Dalton.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
UP AND down the country miners are rallying together to fight for their industry and their future. There is no doubt that now is the time to fight. Now is the time to stand up to the vicious onslaught on jobs by Thatcher and her government through MacGregor and his henchmen. We must make it clear that enough is enough.
Despite the cries for a ballot, the justice of the strikers in
unquestionable. At Polkemmet, even though the majority of men voted
to work, no one crossed the picket line and the pit has been
effectively on strike since the outset. We know that if we lose this
fight the pit would close in about 9 months time. It is clear we
cannot afford to lose.
MacGregor has made his paymasters’ intentions very clear – to destroy the industry, the union, and subsequently the communities reliant upon it. Indeed when recently asked about the catastrophic effect on communities as a result of pit closures he stated: “It is not my concern, that is the government’s concern.”
Well, it does not need me to point out how concerned this government is.
The fact is that the welfare of miners and their families and future jobs for their children don’t matter a damn to the Tories. On the pretext of closing pits they will attempt to do so because they rightly see the NUM as the biggest threat to the continuation of their policy to abuse, smash and exploit our class to the greatest possible degree.
That is why we must fight now. That is why we must stand united, fighting together for the future. It is not our right to turn our backs on the struggles of the past. Nor is it our future to sell.
This industry belongs to the people, the jobs belong to the youth who are the future. We must safeguard the future.
I am confident we will take up the fight as in 1972 and 1974 when major steps forward were taken for our industry and our class.
Joe Owens Archive | ETOL Main Page
Last updated: 6 November 2016