Peter Lazenby
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HUNDREDS of trade unionists marched in Sheffield on Saturday demanding justice for the victims of the police’s brutal attack on striking miners at Orgreave.
Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign’s annual march and rally took place on the anniversary to the day of the infamous action at the South Yorkshire fuel depot where the carefully planned police assault on mineworkers took place.
The rally heard calls for united action against employers and a government whose attacks on workers today can be seen as a direct consequence of the state’s abuse of power against the miners 38 years ago.
Ian Hodson, president of the bakers’ union BFAWU, was cheered by the 400-strong rally as he said: “Next week people will see the power of our class when the RMT go on strike – what we can do when we stand up together.
“When we fight, we win.”
He called for a £15-an-hour minimum wage, abolition of exploitative zero-hours contracts and an end to discrimination against young workers paid less than the statutory minimum wage.
But he said that justice for the miners who were beaten, arrested and falsely accused at Orgreave had to be won to finally end the saga of government lies and injustice.
“Until we get justice for the people at Orgreave we can never move on,” he said.
The rally also celebrated the success of another campaign – justice for the Shrewsbury building workers’ pickets falsely charged and imprisoned in 1973 for their role in Britain’s first nationwide construction industry strike.
The crowd warmly welcomed Eileen Turnbull, researcher for the Shrewsbury 24 campaign, which after a 15-year struggle had the pickets’ convictions overturned.
One of the surviving picketers, Terry Renshaw, told the rally: “It is an honour and a privilege to be here today to say: ‘We won!’
“We never gave up. Over the years we worked with Orgreave campaigners, with Hillsborough.
“The campaigns were the same – miscarriage of justice. We got knocked back several times, but we kept coming forward.
“Now we carry on for Orgreave.”
Banners at the march and rally included Wolverhampton Trade Union Council, the National Union of Mineworkers and North West Miners’ Wives.
