JUST AS THE miners' strike was ending LORwives' group, and JEAN MURRIE, chairperson of the Skelmersdale wives' group, toured France at the invitation of the Confederation Generale du Travail (CGT). Their views expressed in the interview with JUDITH BAKER below, stand out in stark contrast to the analysis of women's attitude to violence in the Statesman (8 3 84).
left's' assessment of the dispute, she said that violence 'is a peculiarly masculine characteristic' which explained the 'tendency of the male left to equate muscular militancy and violence with political strength.
Against Pit Closures against feminism, eagerly burying the failed to popularise the issues in the strike by learning from the tactics of peaceful protest of the Greenham women. She recalls that it wasn't hard to find miners' wives from Ollerton, who supported the strike, who felt alienated by the 'angry, brutal, and useless' behaviour of the miners. response of thousands of miners' wives to the "brutal', well that hundreds of miners' wives were forced, the same as the men, to confront the police on picket lines and did so with as much gusto as the men. chose to confront them. Bea Campbell and her allies in the Labour centre and right will not be allowed to pit mining women against men in this dishonest fashion if the answers for Margaret Thatcher and the government?
Lorraine: It is neither defeat nor a victory. If the In an outrageous article, defending the 'democratic The fundamentalist left, she argues, hijacked Women But why does Beatrix leave out of her analysis the macho violence' of the police? She knows full They didn't choose to confront the police. The police for Thatcher.
But we still have the and it will stick For example, don't Nottingham really want to split off and it's important that we al stay together.
Jean: Before they had the Spencer and that was forced to come back into the national union. The point is the struggle is not over yet.
There's more to come Some men weren't happy with the way they had to go back. But I think in the end we had to go in order to stop Thatcher getting an all-out victory.
Lorraine: Yes, but on the first day they went back at Bold, they were only there for an hour and a half, they came out again. They all marched in together.
They refused to go on Coal. Board buses. They said, 'if it takes us all day to get there we're going in together.? They went in about 10am.
We went home were 'phoning each other up because we really didn't know what with ourselves 120 m husband 'phoned up to say that OLIC lad had been suspended for picking coal and they had all walked out.
Also apparently women canteen staff who had scabbed during the had locked themselves in the tiolets. The girls who had been on angry. I hear stories flying CuUs think the men were out to prove that they've still got some fight left in them.
Who do you blame for the outcome Jean: What we needed was leadership from the TUC Instead of giving it us, they seemed to be afraid of the government.
The rank and file sup ported us. Thatcher really did not calculate on the support we were getting from the general public But with the dockers the support was there, they were just bribed back to work *Lorraine: Yes, if the leadership had been strong enough we could have hac a general strike.
But what are the prospect hen for the future? Hor leadership we the rank and file in other unions should fight for the same Il s une same will the Labour Party. I intend to join the Labour Party when I go back.
Lorraine: Because that isn't, and something ought to be done about it. It's no good just criticising from the outside Jean: Yes, a lot of us are going to join the Labou Party. Me and four of m friends are all going to join Lorraine: A lot of people going join miners, miners wives, supporters — so we won't be on our own. That is the thing about the strike - so many people have got involved politics who never were before. especially young people and women.
What do you intend to do now to keep the miners Lorraine: We will be involved in the campaigns of the NUM, but also we denying us gur " union rights.
But it didn't make any difference. the afternoon shift scabbed on them anyway. Once.a scab always a scab.
the NCB announcement that 40 pits are in danger of closing. It would serve them right if this includes Leicestershire.
want to get involved in other women's struggles.
At the moment we've got the teachers on strike nationally and the hospital workers our They're mainly women so we will want to support them.
Jean: I think we should be allowed to join the NUM myself, after what we've done.
During the strike we linked up with Greenham Common women. I went down there for a weekend to stay, and after Easter I'm going to stay for a week We are going build for the international day Greenham called for September 5.
Would you call yourselves feminists? What in your view is a feminist?
Lorraine: After all this I would call myself feminist • because I don't like being told what to do.
Jean: I am, because I want to control my own body. I had eight children, and my husband didn't believe in n't I decide what I do with
Socialist Action 5 April 1985
----- pull-quotes -----
shipyou change the leader- People have become more
For us, ald dering ine strike five realised that hit