Christmas.
And I want to make a special appeal tonight to the women to come onto the picket lines now. Just a few women have a very electrifying effect on the pickets and the police, I can assure you.
The police don't like us there. Mrs Thatcher doesn't like us there. They don't know what to do with women who sing songs and chant slogans and sound very happy and positive. just don't know what to do with us.
only takes about a dozen of So I'm telling all the womens. Join in You'll have a marvellous impact. now. Get up a bit early. You can always go to bed again later!
MacGregor then went to British Steel. three years in steel destroyed 100,000 jobs, Wie Oul whole communities And I want to make it clear that if Bill Sirs had spent tenth ume MacGregor that he has attacking me and this union, then he would have saved many more of those jobs.
How many times have we heard the saying 'young people today aren't like their forefathers. They're too It was unbelievable for the chairman of the NCB.
Do you know who was doing it? Do you know who was holding the cue cards up! No, not Magaret ThatOne of Margaret Cher. former advisors, a chap called Hart, who's advising the so-called working - the scabs organised against LAS DOn. That's who it was.
They And Mrs Thatcher's personal advisor was there walt alvisllig MacGregor smile at the right time. This man has done more damage to the whole concept of industrial relations inside a year than any single individual we can think of in the history For twelve solid months this union he has fought to maintain our industry.
But we've also been fighting on other arguments. . There are other principles at stake as far as this union is concerned: the very basis of our trade union fighting itself, which MacGregor and cher are trying to destroy Like Peter Heathfield, I want to ask you this question. Imagine what of apparently they to of trade back, or any compromise as far as basic principle union has been willing to negotiate.
But I'm not prepared to negotiate on That- what I term a sell-out by NACODS, when they accepted pit closures.
We're now told questrated as a national union and as Carefully calls in the early cept. flat. They concerned. This we've been sedisputes.
Inaustry, introducing himself as speaking at all five rallies, Jim Mortimer received a large amount of catpart of his speech because of Neil Kinnock's refusal to speak at the NUM rallies. (C1 am conscious that our party owes more to the miners in its history than to any other section of The Board turned them down turned them down flat because the government had been instructing them not to negotiate.
I want to go further than Peter (Heathfield) or Mick (McGahey) in the TUC. I don't want merely a redemption in words of some of the IOUs. I want to see the same commitment to this union by rank and file unionists in power, in steel, and in transport that we've given to them when they've been involved in I want all trade unionists to examine their conscience. I want to ask our brothers and sisters in the power steel, much longer can you stand on one side and see this union butchered by a galaxy the Coal Board, the CBI and the Institute of Directors? Come and take industrial action now, and stop accepting scab coal, scab oil, and scab iron ore. Practice what you preach and stop crossing picket lines!
1 here also comes a time when trade union leaders have to take again stand on the basis of principle. We have to reply to those who we feel are injuring the movement.
I received a letter from the Polish Federation of Trade Unions, offering their support they said to the NUM -inviting families to go to Poland for a holiday. I'm going to read you my reply and I hope you're in accord:
'My advice to the Polish government and to you is to stop behaving hypocritically and in a way that can wiel 1 link of the ligures in tb history of the miners union and the present generation 1 am conscious that they have drawn their strength and they continue dr8R strength from the rank and file of your union.
The National Executive of the party in the very last statement that it issued on the mining dispute said that we 'reaffirm our total support for the National Union of Mineworkers in its historic struggle to fight against continuing further unemployment in 9)
the mining industry.' discovered during the course of this eight month strike.
When people ask you 'why should , we say that David Jones and Joe Green were killed fighting for this union. We owe it to them to carry on and win this battle.
You're fighting to preserve the right to work - and not the right to work of a scab backed up by two thousand police. You are determined as a result of this action to convey to this government and employers that we too have rights And when they talk about investment, we're not talking about financial investment alone - — we're talking about the greatest investment of all: the investment of our lives in this in. dustry. It's the only thing we have to invest and it is something that none of Time and time again the leaders of this union have asked the members to respond. Never in our wildest dreams have SUCI magnificent response. Time and time members of the union movement have demanded leadership. I say to you without fear of contradiction that you have not got in the leadership on this platform - - three members of the national executive — leaders who will finish up in the House of Lords.
But what you have got is leaders who are determined to take this union side by side with you to the most fantastic, historic victory.
Miners, I salute you, you are magnificent.