THE LESSON OF THE BETTESHANGER STRIKE (Industry)

The strike at Betteshanger (Kent) ended last Sunday. The men voted to return to work after being addressed by National Union of Mineworkers' general secretary, Will Paynter.

Paynter told the mass meeting that the 'union executive would investigate the question of redundancy and would lead a deputation to open talks with the Coal Board'.

This promised action by the NUM leaders is rather belated. The strike lasted three weeks and throughout the leaders refused to make it official. One cannot but suspect that such a formula was designed to get the men back to work and extricate the leaders from an embarrassing position.

Agreed sackings

This assumption is reinforced when one notes that the NUM executive has never gone on record for a struggle against pit closures and redundancy. The prior collaboration practised by the leaders with the NCB concerning sackings was seized on by J. H. Plumptre, general manager of the south-eastern division of the NCB. Writing in The Times on February 16, Plumptre goaded Burke, the Betteshanger chairman, with the fact 'the union insisted that those declared redundant should be those recently engaged'. Burke had complained that those sacked were all young men.

Utilizing to the full, these agreements entered into by the union officials, Plumptre went on to say: 'This problem of redundancy at Betteshanger has been fully discussed with the union at pit, divisional and national level. The union have not, at any time, opposed the reduction in output and manpower in Kent.'

This acceptance of the arbitrary right of the NCB to carry out sackings ensured that no preparations were made at either national or area level to defeat the NCB. The union had three months' notice of the sackings. At national level nothing was done. A fact which casts a shadow over the sincerity and seriousness of the executive's latest proposals.

No campaign beforehand

In the Kent area itself no campaign was waged to gain active support in the other pits. Nor was any campaign directed towards the other coalfields.

When the Kent area executive asked the other three Kent pits to take supporting strike action they were turned down. This was the pay-off for the lack of preparation. The refusal of the other Kent pits to strike, then became an almost insurmountable barrier to gaining supporting action in other coalfields.

On February 16, the other three pits did agree, however, to place an embargo on Kent's 1,500 tons of coal stocks being moved. This, however, remained simply a pious resolution. No pickets were placed at the other pits and no call was made to the other coal fields to support this decision. Some of the Betteshanger men claim 2,500 tons was moved from Snowdown in the last week of the dispute.

The strike consequently remained isolated. The Betteshanger men, despite tremendous militancy and a willingness to fight, could not win on their own. Driven into isolation by the union's acceptance of sackings; hampered because of the failure of the Kent area executive to develop an alternative policy; the men were compelled to return to work.

There is an attempt to find consolation in the fact that some 60 men have left the industry over the last few weeks and it is therefore assumed 60 of the sacked 140 will be re-absorbed. This solves nothing. The NCB intend to intensify their drive to reduce the labour force in the mines. More sackings are on the way and unless preparations are made now to meet them then the experiences of Betteshanger will be repeated.

Rank-and-file unity must be established in the coalfields. Each pit and every area must be linked together to ensure a unified fight against sackings and closures. The demand for the suspension of all interest payments in order to provide money to maintain miners made redundant and awaiting transfers or seeking alternative employment must be fought for both in the NUM and inside the Labour Party.