OT: Farewell to UK coal

It had nothing to do with wages, Scargill used the miners as a weapon against an elected government, the government did what was required to destroy that weapon the same as they would if any other group of workers tried to overthrow an elected government.

What principle are you saying Scargill had?

It is the unions' job to care about their members...

Interesting. Thanks, Andy.

A couple of other related links. This one from The Register, re-states Zharkova's theory

Says Harry, that world-famous and acknowledged expert on the global climate and what controls it. ROTFLMAO!

Pah. The Royal Astronomical Society... What would they know about the sun, compared to Our Harry?

So this is an astrophysicist and mathematician (Ukrainian, not Russian, anyway, but that's a minor difference, right?), who came over here in

Some "mad Russian", eh, Harry?

You think?

You can think what you like as it's non of your business. Unless a member of the NUM.

Trying to put words in another's mouth again dennis?

Might be better to talk some sense yourself first.

So all the union legislation enacted afterwards was only applicable to the NUM, dennis?

Something many find it hard to understand.

It is up to an individual union to make its own policy. One might decide to protect all jobs at all costs. Another might look at its industry as a whole.

But it's pretty irrelevant anyway. Thatcher got her way and virtually abolished unions in practice. So we now have a low wage high employment country. With dreadful productivity. And a range of income from highest to lowest which reads more like a middle east sheikdom.

Yes. And I'll make my own judgement about which one is doing a better, more honest job of looking after its members, instead of the interests of the union bosses (more members = more job security for these bosses).

A union, equally with the industry its members are engaged in, has no right to think it ought to exist for ever. Canals were the fastest mode of transport until the railways got going, then went into decline. Railways in their turn have been undone by road transport.

In article , Davey writes

They were designed to run on the type of coal regionally available to that railway company. Created a few problems when engines were moved around following nationalisation.

To take him back to his rent free London home no doubt.

Yes. They did a lot better under his predecessor Joe Gormley and he wouldn't have led them into a fight they couldn't win.

And many fail to understand that that is the biggest problem with unions, they spread greed (and try to blame Maggie for it).

You said it, you even quoted it above. If Scargill hadn't done what he did the government couldn't have used it as an excuse to attack the unions could it?

I think you need to read what you write.

It becomes my business when they try to overthrow the government. It becomes my business when they intimidate others whether union members or not.

Why should they single out the miners, they showed that unions used intimidation and vote rigging and that all unions need to have laws to control their behaviour.