It is important that we, the ordinary people, remember our history, our struggles to improve our communities and conditions. It is important for several reasons, one is that if we don't remember, record and celebrate our struggles of the past, they will be airbrushed out of history, and our kids will have a distorted view of history. Another reason is to bring home to each and all of us, that the struggles of today are not a blip in the capitalist system, but are part and parcel of a continuing struggle, over generations, by the ordinary people to wrestle a decent standard of living from a repressive and exploitative capitalists system. We should never forget the sacrifices of those who took up that struggle in past, we most understand that those struggles are inextricably linked to our struggles today. It is one long battle that hasn't been resolved yet, but victory will be ours eventually, but only if we hold onto that wonderful spirit of revolt, born from our past struggles.
This year sees the anniversary of the start of one of our many bitter struggles that we should celebrate with pride, the 30th anniversary of the 1984/5 miners strike. A strike where the people felt the full force of the state, where the state apparatus pulled out all the brutal, duplicitous tactics in its armoury to crush the fighting spirit of the workers. The history of this strike is also a catalogue of the brilliant tactics, ingenuity, resilience, determination, solidarity and courage, of the ordinary people.
Here in full is one such effort of support, solidarity and direct action, that you may not find in the official recoding of the the 1984/5 miners strike.
The Day we took the White Tower.
An account of the occupation of Accountants Price Waterhouse offices
in Glasgow in support of the South Wales Miners.
At 7:30 am on Tuesday, 4th September, 1984, 12 anarchists stormed a
multi-story office block in Glasgow city centre. They went in to
occupy the headquarters of Accountants Price Waterhouse, the
millionaire outfit which sequestrated the South Wales Miners' Funds.
As the newspapers reported, the operation was executed with military
precision. It took the team 10 minutes from entering the building to
securing themselves behind metal-sheeted doors on the 13th floor.
About 600lbs of equipment, including hammers, drills, saws and
timber, were carried past the startled staff. Lifts were occupied and
protests ignored. All the keys were lifted from the security guards
desk. Everyone knew his task and skillfully completed it.
Not that everything was perfect. The security guard managed to regain
entry to the foyer before all the equipment had been moved in. The
elevators were too small to easily accommodate the 8' x 4' metal
sheeting. An officer had to be ejected from Price Waterhouse as the
occupation got under-way. It proved impossible to commandeer all
three lifts for the 13th floor and so that area came under police
control sooner than planned. An early casualty was the driver who was
arrested at the Hire Depot as he was returning the van which the team
arrived in.
In spite of these reverses the operation was a complete success. Fire
doors leading to the common stairway were nailed-up. The twelve had
captured the offices of Price Waterhouse and were securely
barricaded-in. The police who arrived at 7.50 am could only rage,
threaten and kick impotently at the steel doors out in the corridor
as those inside calmly outlined their reasons for their peaceful
occupation.
For this was no exercise in bravado but a serious social act. The
anarchists were convinced of the need for direct action against Price
Waterhouse. Contrary to popular report, this company did not simply
carry out a mundane legal job of sequestration against miners; they
entered the fight with all the commitment of partisans. Price
Slaughterhouse went much further than their law demanded. Not content
with seizing the £350,000 administrative funds belonging to the
South Wales miners, the proceeded to grab an additional £400,000 in
the Provident fund and money collected for hardship cases, food and
clothing for families. To permit these gangsters to commit legalized
robbery seemed to all Clydeside Anarchists an invitation to ,ore
adventurous tactics by the boss class.
By 8.30 am, a senior officer was knocking at the door seeking to
parley. He was told: 1) That his minions has threatened violence
(true); 2) that all anarchists had been medically examined and
photographed the previous day (not quite true); 3) that they had
nothing more to say to him and that he should fetch a representative
of Price Shithouse to consider some important questions.
At 9 am, a Mr. Campbell arrived. He said he was a Partner and senior
executive of the company in Scotland and that he and the staff (30)
were seriously put out by the occupation and were anxious to come in
and start work. He was informed that the Welsh miners and their
families were being even more seriously inconvenienced by the actions
of PW. Two conditions were put to Campbell for the evacuation of the
building: 1) That the funds of the South Wales Miners be restored to
them; 2) that PW undertake no further sequestrations. Campbell said
it would take a little time to get a response from the Head Office in
Birmingham. The occupants promised to be patient.
An hour later (10 am) Campbell slipped a typed letter over the steel
door. In it he acknowledged the anarchist action but replied
negatively to both points. However, the note went on to say that if
the South Wales Miners would identify those funds which were
ear-marked for clothing and food-relief, PW would release them.
Campbell was told to wait half-an-hour while a meeting was held to
consider the letter. He was reminded by one of the group that there
was a lot of valuable equipment in the offices and that any violent
action could inadvertently result in an awful lot of damage. (The
suite of offices contained about 18 rooms – the entire floor –
and was ultra-modern. There were no manual typewriters, only a few
IBM golf ball typewriters. But the place was stuffed with terminals,
VDUs, word processors, telex machines, photocopiers, etc. - certainly
£100,000 worth of equipment. The really valuable stuff, however, was
the Diskettes; mini discs containing all the files plus work in
progress. About 900 of these were lying around all capable of storing
10,000 words. However, the threat was an empty one as the group had
decided not to cause any malicious damage. Nevertheless, it seemed to
give Campbell some cause to stay the hand of the gendarmes.)
By this time the building was surrounded by the guardians of law and
order. Two 60-foot banners were stretched round the 13th floor
reading: GLASGOW BACKS THE MINERS and UNEMPLOYED SOLIDARITY.
Electricity had been cut-off, several phones were out and large
numbers of police occupied the corridors.
At 10.45 am Campbell was informed that the meeting had considered his
letter and would investigate the authenticity of this claim about
their willingness to release identified funds.
The next several hours were spent in talks with the South Wales
Miners' headquarters and to PW's Man outside the Door. This period
was afforded many opportunities to go through extensive filing
system. It was a real eye-opener. This multi-million pound outfit has
accountancy as only a small part of its business. It concentrates on
handling take-over bids, forecasting money market trends, overseas
investments, etc. It was clear that a big percentage of the bog
monopolies are clients of PW.
Dinner was served at around 12 but almost all resisted the temptation
of PW's extensive cellar (Barsac '79, not a great year, but …)
Leaflets were scattered at 5 minute intervals. Supporters were
gathering in the streets below and press and news agencies contacted
about the occupation and the reasons for it. The South Wales NUM said
it was being reported locally and were delighted by the action.
Meanwhile, the cops were bored and were boring! Stealthily, they were
trying to gain access through the fire door; but it hadn't simply
been nailed up – it was the subject of a superb piece of civil
engineering by Castlemilk Constructors (unemployed). The boys in blue
were disappointed.
The discussions with the South Wales NUM revealed that they were not
prepared to identify those funds which were for the relief of
hardship. They claimed that to do so would be to recognise the Courts
which was contrary to union policy and in conflict with the Wembley
Conference decisions which had been reinforced by the Brighton TUC
the previous day. One of the team, Enrico (Malatesta?) in speaking to
Emlyn Jenkins (SWNUM) observed that they would prefer not to
recognise any court. However, the anarchists did not see the task of
making demands of the miners but of exposing the scab outfit of Price
Waterhouse.
Certainly some publicity was being gained: radio, TV and newspapers
were carrying reports of the action and giving garbled accounts of
the reasons for it. Leaflets were being distributed at job centres
and DSS offices but sympathisers were being warned-off by cops from
giving out material near the occupation.
As the afternoon progressed several things became clear: 1) It was
not possible to force PW into restoring the miners' funds; 2) the
cops were becoming increasingly restive and seemed likely to indulge
in heroics; 3) one of the doors was less secure than the others and
seemed vulnerable to a determined assault. Considering these factors
it was decided to dismantle the barricades. Campbell of PW conceded
that if no malicious damage had been done then charges would not be
brought against the occupying anarchist force. There were serious
doubts about this.
At 4.15 pm, having removed most barricades, the police were allowed
to enter by one door. The 12 militants were invited to collect their
tools and belongings and proceed to the exit where large quantities
of police awaited them. The steam coming from the Inspector's ears
warned the anarchists what was to come. “I'm In Charge Now” he
cried, and went on to announce that the group would be hand-cuffed in
pairs, taken to the local station and charged with breach of the
peace and criminal damage.
Thereafter, the 12 were subjected to the usual indignities:
photographed, finger-printed, given a body-search and locked in
single cells for the night. No violence was used but it was
particularly hard for those 9 members of the group who were vegans
and had nothing but bread and water for 24 hours.
Next day, they were packed sic to a cell (5' x 10') and later
appeared at the Sheriff Court. There they pled not guilty to all
charges and were released on bail. Trial was fixed for 10th December.
In retrospect, the group felt that the action was relatively
successful - not from the narrow view of publicity for the Clydeside
Anarchists – but because it was a positive action on behalf of the
miners to the ruling class offensive. The negative aspect lies in the
anarchists having to to do the job at all. The impotent and ossified
Trade Union seems incapable of anything but a negative reaction to
the the boss class.
Social democracy and the bureaucratised TU movement have disarmed the
working class. Lullabies of class peace, parliamentary and legal
paths to social harmony have virtually paralysed the proletariat's
instinct for self-defence.
The group hopes that the action has helped to forge closer links
between Clydeside Anarchists and the miners for whom they have
campaigned and collected more than £2,000. Perhaps it will galvanise
more workers into direct action and show them that defence against
the boss is not confined within the narrow limits of branch
resolutions and letters to MPs and councillors. At the very least,
Clydeside Anarchists have given the lie to those who charge that we
couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery. Price Waterhouse can
testify to that.
Brian Biggins
Glasgow, 13th September, 1984
This and more of Glasgow/Clydeside people's struggles can be found at:
Visit ann arky's home at
www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
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