Catalogue Number
NMLH.1994.168.296
Object Name
Banner
Title
'Young Communists say Coal Not Dole'
Place
UK
People
Young Communists, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Events
1984-85 Miners' Strike
Date
About 1984
Description
This red rectangular banner has yellow lettering reading 'Young Communists say Coal Not Dole'.
Coal Not Dole was a slogan used during the 1984-85 Miners' Strike, when tens of thousands of miners were told the mines they worked at were going to be shut down. In some areas, villages or small towns had been built up around the coal mine, with few other opportunities for employment without moving away. As so many mines were scheduled to be closed, and mining is a specialist profession, even moving away would have given little chance of finding employment. Miners viewed their only options as keeping their workplace open, or ending up on unemployment benefits known as 'the dole'. Their fears proved correct - in towns where coal mines were shut down, even decades later there is disproportionately high rates of poverty and unemployment.
Left wing organisations like the Young Communists acted in solidarity with the striking miners, attending demonstrations and fundraising to provide mutual aid to the strikers and their families.
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