Unlike the 1972 and 1974 strikes, which had been about wages, the issue for the miners in 1984 was the survival of their industry – Dr Ben Curtis
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On 6 March 1984, the NCB announced that it intended to cut 4 million tons capacity and 20,000 jobs within the year. Miners across the UK went on strike to save the industry and their communities.
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Women played a vital role in supporting the miners during the strike. In the minutes of the first South Wales Women’s Support Group meeting, Kath Jones wrote:
…[i]t was exciting […] to see that women were organising themselves as they had never done before in any trade union dispute.
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The strike ended in defeat for the miners. Within ten months of the strike, nine collieries had disappeared in south Wales.
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