“Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains”.

The South Whales coalfield had to shut down June 16th 1982 after 24,000 miners put down their tools and joined health service workers on strike. The health service workers stood up to conservative policies to demand a 12% pay raise for their services.

“Other unions also declared their support for the health service workers’ pay claim. Demonstrators were joined by building workers, local authority workers, civil servants and delegates from the gas, electricity and water industries.”

It is estimated that the mining industry lost £750,000 due to the strike. With workers from various fields uniting to enact change the nursing union finally accepted a raise of 7.5% on June 22nd. This is well below what they deserve, but it’s considered a victory for workers rights nonetheless. This story shows what is possible when people from all walks of life leave behind their differences and work together. Another lesson to be derived from this event is that capitalists only listen to capital. If you want to negotiate with capitalists you must speak the only language they understand. Now I leave you with two more quotes from Karl Marx (I’m in a Marxist mood today).

“Civil servants and priests, soldiers and ballet-dancers, schoolmasters and police constables, Greek museums and Gothic steeples, civil list and services list - the common seed within which all these fabulous beings slumber in embryo is taxation.”

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.”

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