Abstract
The British Miners’ Strike of 1984-85 was perhaps the longest and hardest-fought mass strike in Europe in recent decades. The dispute divided the country and regardless of its outcome it remains a milestone both in contemporary discussions of industrial relations and in popular consciousness. Above all, this article concentrates on the support groups created to help miners and their families, during an entire year without wages or additional state benefits. These existed both in the coalfields and major cities in addition there is a brief discussion on the help forthcoming from other minorities and from abroad. The author outlines the main events of the strike, but also considers the previous miners’ strikes of the 1970s. Contrary to the notion that the strike was always destined to fail, the author argues that in reality its outcome was often in the balance.
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