INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, THE POLICE AND PUBLIC ORDER — SOME LESSONS OF THE MINERS' STRIKE

The miners' strike of 1984–5 does not lend itself easily to general conclusions. It was, and it is hoped will remain, unique. Nevertheless, it laid bare some significant trends and developments in the policing of industrial disputes, which have, in several respects, been reinforced by subsequent events. My purpose in this article is to identify and analyse what happened in the policing of the strike in that context, in an attempt to highlight the implications of contemporary techniques of policing disputes and of the context in which policing takes place. My central thesis is that recent developments in policing disputes are potentially dangerous for civil liberties, for the police themselves and for industrial relations.