Durham Miners Gala speakers announced - all with a 1984 strike connection
Platform speakers for this year’s Durham Miners Gala have been announced.
And all of them have a link to the Miners Strike of 1984.
The 40th anniversary of the strike will be commemorated at the Big Meeting which is organised by the Durham Miners Association (DMA).
The tough days of 1984 remembered
The line up of platform speakers for the event on Saturday, July 13, includes;
Ian Lavery, a former miner and president of the National Union of Mineworkers.
DMA Secretary Alan Mardghum who was a Wearmouth pit lodge official in 1984.
And Heather Wood from Easington who played a leading role in the women’s support groups throughout and beyond the strike.
They kept going ‘against all odds’
Others on the stage will include union general secretaries Christina McAnea, Matt Wrack and Mick Whelan. All had direct involvement in the Miners Strike or are organising in defence of workers today. The theme of ‘Solidarity Forever’ will run through the Gala.
DMA chairman Stephen Guy said: “It was solidarity within our mining communities and from the wider labour movement that sustained the strike against all odds for a year. It is that solidarity that will enable us as a movement and a class to meet the challenges of today.
“Forty years on from the strike, it is remarkable that the Gala has not just survived but is thriving again. It is an inspiring spectacle and a beacon of hope.”
The full line-up
The year-long strike began in March 1984 as miners and their families across the country fought to preserve their jobs, their industry and their communities.
Within a decade of the end of the strike, every mine on the Durham coalfield had been closed.
The full line up of platform speakers is:
• Christina McAnea, General Secretary, Unison
• Ian Lavery, former miner, president of the NUM and MP for Wansbeck
• Matt Wrack, General Secretary, FBU
• Mick Whelan, General Secretary, Aslef
• Daniel Kebede, General Secretary, NEU
• Adriana Pella, CGT, the national trade union federation in Argentina
• Alan Mardghum, General Secretary, DMA
• Heather Wood, Women Against Pit Closures
The speeches will get underway on the Racecourse at 1pm.