broken ankle, Smith minor cuts. EARLY in November police beseiged the Rotherham village of Sunnyside, the home of many Silverwood miners.
Philip Wainwright had Jonea ihree • OLIICI staus. He returned home escorted by five van loads of police.
Even more were waiting in the wings. After the Harc-up WOlCI ensued from the police's attempts to intimidate a whole vil lage, seven strikers were charged with besetting Wainwright's house with obstruction.
It was a set-up job. The scab and his family were due to move the following day they'd already solc Her house.
At the beginning of this week, six of those charged KEN PETNEY still awaits reinstatement after the court case against him at Nottingham Crown Court completely collapsed on the last day of the strike. Last May bank holiday a fight broke out in a Blidworth pub.
Rob Ellis, a local scab, pulled Petney off his chair and both fell to the floor. Smith, another scab, waded in with a chair. The brief fight was chaotic. Ellis had a wele sentenccu C one month's jail. seventh, Alan Rodgers, got month's sentence, suspended for a year. The imprisoned miners Alan Cresswell, Alan harrell. and tour brothers Paul, David, Michael and Robert Boyle.
Including these, Silverwood miners have been victimised so far.
Fourteen have been sacked since the return to work.
At Thurcroft, Isillicls have been sacked, and at least three at Kiveton Park. bul Manton collery Is in a league of its own.
Loue val oLse ro shire NUM, , it's actualy in Nottinghamshire. Management there is refusing recognise the union at all!
At one in the morning, four striking miners, Ken Petney John Holroyd, Alan Radford, and Philip Humber were arrested The CIlD referred the casé to the 'NUM charge centre' the start, Ellis and Smith were treated as the victims. All four strikers werc cirozalcu even though there was no evidence azallis.
Radford and Humber.
Both were threatened with affray charges. 'What does that mean?' they police case was in a mess The judge saved CID an embarrassing time by dismissing the case In doing police, though criticise them mediately forming a view of who was to blame.
Immediately acquittal, Petney's lawyers wrote to the Coal Board demanding his reinstatenent. The NCB, so swift to concemo. have not yet replied.
How many more strikers have received, and are yet to recelve the lite sentenc‹ the dole on such trumped-up charges? Their real crime, of course, fighting for their jobs. other minority areas they have borne the brunt of opposition to the strike.
•Now, with the return to work. muev exoect renewe‹ efforts to isolate and de moralise In the Warwickshire pits the harassment already underway. Striking miners have been degraded In Leicester and South Derbyshire there is another problem the scab officials.
Jim O'Grady, one of South Derbyshire's Sakne mesetaned *The position that we are in DoW s unal We Dave cont back to work. We had a vote and we all voted to obey the special conference decision. get rid of them is to get down back into them pits tell the people what went on during that strike, give your owa experiences to them and show them that they don't have , LO OOu the Sen tob. line of people like Ken In the last year these strikers nave relied on three important sources of support: the miners' wives ano the Women Against Pit Closures groups;
railworkers at wno, despile all Ine pIes sure, refused to move coal; and the support committees Ihe miners' wives have been amongst the first to draw the political lessons of the ongoing fight emerg10 Grady probatiy speak from this strike. Jim for all those who stood firm over the last year. 'I've heard it being said on radio and on TV about the shortcomings everything else of the strike.
'And I have constantly heard people saying that Scargill going to be around a lot longer. He's not going to disappeas Well. I'm glad they recognise that, because people such as myself who cesed til his sarike have turned into Scargills, and I reckon thạt 150,000 have. L n c c mave c ol more Scargills to deal with.
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outh Yorks Silverwood miners jailed