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| Volume 54 Number 17, July 13, 2024 | ARCHIVE | HOME | JBCENTRE | SUBSCRIBE |
Northern Region, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Stephen Guy, Chairman of the Durham Miners Association at
the Big Meeting 2022
The 138th Durham Miners Gala takes place on Saturday, 13 July 2024. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Miners' Strike, and the organisers say that the theme of 'Solidarity Forever' is to run through the Gala, and that all those speaking at the Gala had direct involvement in the Miners' Strike or are organising in defence of workers today. They have also taken a stand in supporting an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and in supporting the Palestinians against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The speakers include union general secretaries Christina McAnea, Matt Wrack and Mick Whelan, plus Ian Lavery, a former miner and president of the NUM, Alan Mardghum, Durham Miners Association (DMA) Secretary, and Heather Wood from Easington, who played a leading role in the women's support groups throughout and beyond the strike.
Durham Miners Gala parade 2023
Stephen Guy, chairman of the DMA, 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 this 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 Gala points the way to a better world. I look forward to seeing the streets of Durham once again packed with good people on the second Saturday in July. Solidarity forever!"
Today, we march in our thousands, in the columns of the heritage miners'
banners and those trade union banners of the workers fighting for their
interests today, that Enough Is Enough! Let us continue to discuss and
plan to meet those challenges and build the solidarity of the workers fighting
for their interests and build the opposition against the system of direct rule
by the rich. The cartel party system we are faced with has not been changed by
the General Election other than the hated Tory government vote collapsed to
enable the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer to be elected with almost the same
programme.
Murton Lodge BannerThe vicious
anti-social offensive against the rights of the people, against their
livelihoods and privatisation of public services, remain in place and must be
challenged every step of the way. At the same time, the support of the
government for Israel's genocide in Gaza and escalation of NATO's dangerous
proxy war in Ukraine against Russia remains and must also be challenged with
all our might. It is the working class and people's forces themselves who have
the interest in bringing into being new forms which truly empower them to solve
the problems at home and fight for peace in the world.
As we march we also reflect on the resistance and solidarity of the heroic miners' strike 40 years ago and what it means today. Earlier this year in March, at the 40th anniversary of the start of the 1984/5 strike, a moving march took place in Dodworth, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, with a rally at the Dodworth Miners Welfare. Arthur Scargill, former leader of the National Union of Miners, was the guest of honour, and what he had to say is not without significance. Firstly, he issued a statement prefacing his speech by condemning the mass slaughter by Israel of Palestinian people in Gaza, including children and the unborn, as nothing less than genocide. He said the perpetrators should be arrested and jailed for life. Then in his speech Arthur Scargill honoured the miners and their families of 1984/5 in their fight, forces which included "our young miners who were in every sense fighting for the future - and the magnificent Women Against Pit Closures who were at the forefront of our struggle". He concluded: "It is a privilege to be here today with all of you who took strike action in 1984 and you who supported our strike: You marched into history, and entered the pantheon of working class heroes and heroines."
As we reflect on the battle of 1984/85, let us therefore continue this legacy with the fight for our future today. The time is now for the working people to renew and strengthen their organisations fit for the challenges of today. The time is now for working people to stand firm and speak out in their own name. The time is now for working people to adopt their own outlook and their own programme of building the opposition to paying the rich and to the ruling elites' pro-war agenda which wants to consume our youth in imperialist war. This challenge for working people is exemplified in the Murton banner contingents that have over many years come to the Gala with so many youth, and with the motto emblazoned on their banner, "The Future Is In Your Hands"!
Build the Resistance! Build the Voice of the People!
Take up the Need to Renew the Political Process!
Together We Can Achieve Success!