Catalogue Number
NMLH.2024.66.6
Object Name
card
Title
'Coël Not Doël'
People
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Events
Miners' Strike 1984-85, Christmas
Description
A white Christmas card with details in red. There is a bauble topped with a sprig of holly, with Father Christmas in the middle of it wearing a pit helmet headlamp on top of his traditional hat. The writing says 'Coël Not Doël'.
This card was created as a fundraiser for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) welfare funds during the 1984-85 Miners' Strike. The wording 'Coël Not Doël' is playfully referencing the NUM slogan 'Coal Not Dole' (i.e. jobs, not unemployment benefits) but using the spelling from Noël which is another word for Christmas. The strike was called after Margaret Thatcher's government announced they were going to begin closing coal mines around the UK, leading to significant job losses. Workers walked out in March '84, and the strike was still going on as Christmas approached. With no recourse to public funds, and no wages coming in, striking families struggled with stress and shame around what they couldn't provide for their children that Christmas. NUM welfare funds and mutual aid provided by solidarity groups enabled many families to have a Christmas meal that they otherwise would have had to go without.
The Miners' Strike was ultimately unsuccessful, and by the 1990s most of the UK's pits had been closed. However the strike's legacy is remembered as being a time of communities coming together to provide mutual aid and support, and a strong example of workers solidarity.
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