Strike Strike: Thatcher, Scargill, and the Miners Thatcher, Scargill, and the Miners

The British coal miners' strike of 198485 was the most significant labor battle in that country's past half century. It pitted National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill, a Marxist commited single-mindedly to the welfare of his union's members, against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, ardent apostle of the free enterprise system, and her chosen head of the National Coal Board, the Scottish-American Ian MacGregor. While several issuessuch as the union's failure to take a nationwide strike vote and Scargill's effort to secure financing from Libya's Muammar Quaddafiprovoked differences, the central question was whether mines which were or would soon be operating at a loss should be closed. After much violence and little support from members, the union was defeated. This important story is told perceptively and in depth by the authors and the London Sunday Times Insight Team. Photos not seen by PW. (February)