In March 1984, when the National Coal Board announced the closure of five pits without proper review, miners in Yorkshire and Scotland started official strike action. These were endorsed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) executive which called on other areas to support them. The Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher brought the full weight of the law down on the striking miners and the NUM's funds were seized on October 24, 1984 by order of the High Court. Several hundred miners were dismissed and never taken back. Miners were denied state benefits and the police were mobilised to deal with picket lines on the grounds that they represented illegal public disturbances.

The biggest confrontation of pickets with police took place at Orgreave in Yorkshire on 18 June, 1984 when Arthur Scargill, the NUM President, was arrested. A huge support network sprang up across the country, led particularly by Women Against Pit Closures in the coal communities. The strike ended on March 3, 1985, nearly a year after it had begun, when the NUM conceded defeat.

This leaflet was published by the Kent Area of the NUM.

Title	NUM leaflet - Coal not dole, 1985
Maker	--
Production Date	1985
Format	Leaflet
Copyright	--
Holding Institution	TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University
Related Objects	--