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The Miners’ Strike
1984/5
Thatcher had already signalled her hostility to unions and introduced laws to curb their power
- Mass picketing illegal
- ‘Closed shops’ outlawed
- Workers could choose to join unions or not
- Industrial action illegal unless the workers had voted for a strike in a formal ballot
Coal mines were earmarked for closure
- Arthur Scargill led resistance to the closures
- But he refused to acknowledge the legal changes on Unions.
Trial of strength lasted for over a year.