Photo: JOHN SMITH (IFL)
Picket at Agecroft well short of the NCB's hopes.
than 10 per pit.
The overwhelming majority of those who since Hee! March still out. To the board's proHAKC blems worse, the majority of those returning are not the face workers, who continue to be the solid core of the dispute. As a resuil very little more coal is behas pursued NCB pursued tactic of howing hot and cold witt the NUM in order to confuse and demoralise the In January, for example, MacGregor stated that à simple verbal agreement to discuss the question of uneconomic pits would suffice. Later was changed to demands for written commitment to accept closure of pits Alongside that, the NCB was declaring that there THE HOPES OF the Tories and the NCB that the miners could be starved back on total surrender terms have been dashed by the bitter determination of the striking miners, and the clear stand on the NUM executive. While the media will claim that the back to work movement is turning into a flood, the fact is that the return on Monday and Tuesday was Last weekend Michael Eaton was predicting 5000 new faces on Monday. In the event less than 2000 turned up. In Yorkshire, where the board had hoped for a major breach under 500 returned - less would be no possibility of reinstating the : 600 miners sacked during the dispute.
Sacked After the meeting between Ned Smith and Peter Heathfield the NUM exan agenda for talks. stepped LIC into head off the possibiliof talks. Again, last week arter talks welween Heathfield Merrick spanton for personnel) talks seemed again possible. But by Friday the NCB had issued a letter demanding that the NUM accept in advance, a pit closure procedure.
The board's cat mouse game has not produced the results that they wanted. In fact, the normally right wing power group has called on its members the while the pit deputies NACODS, believes that the board is renegin he agreement reached las October. The demand that the board is making on the NUM is that it accepts the board's definition uneconomic something that NACODS has not agreed to.
The response in the coal fields is a flat refusal by the overwhelming majority of strikers to give the hoard a blank cheque. Ihe strikers are also determinstand by their vic ed to timised colleagues. In addition, there are a large number or miners cases have yet to be con sidered would face disciplinary action on a return to work. Response In the Doncaster агея about miners suspended at pre cann sent. Despite the efforts of the Tories, the media and mamv in the labour move ment to advise the miners that the strike is over and the union must accept unconditional surrender, it is clear still much to be gained by con. tinuing the struggle, forcing the Tories to back off from their attempts to humiliate the NUM. For the rest of the movement the task if still solidarity with the miners.