Steelworkers in struggle : An oral history of the 1980 national steel strike

Abstract

This book uses oral history testimony from forty former steelworker trade unionists to examine the 1980 national steelworkers’ strike. The book argues that the strike was both the most significant event in the history of the British steel industry and a key turning point in the related histories of deindustrialisation and neoliberalism in Britain. It occurred just eight months after the election of Margaret Thatcher, following a Tory campaign that had identified the defeat of trade unionism as the political order of the day. However, the government displayed uncertainty on how to proceed with this agenda; memories of past defeats at the hands of the unions remained fresh in the mind. The book argues that the steelworkers might have inflicted another such defeat on Thatcher if the steel unions had widened their demands to include jobs and the future of the industry. A victory on the issue of jobs and the future of the steel industry would have disrupted Thatcherism and halted the neoliberal attacks on trade unions and nationalised industries. However, the strike remained confined to pay and, in its aftermath, the steel industry was devastated by closures and redundancies. This paved the way for a succession of Thatcherite victories over labour throughout the 1980s, weakening the power of the unions and the interests of many working-class communities. But although the outcomes were bleak, for many who took part in it the strike was a positive event in their lives which inspired in them a greater, lasting commitment to achieving a better world.