The Arransian Coal Crisis of 1986-87

1986 turned out to be perhaps the bitterest year in post-war Arransian politics. The Liberal Chancellor Adam Sinclair (b 1932) had been re-elected in 1985 with an increased majority, having promised to take drastic action to improve the performance of Arransia’s sluggish and uncompetitive economy. This set the government on a collision course with the miners’ union, led by the combative Danny McArthur (1934-1996). Major changes were proposed to the national mining financial framework (NMFF), including a significant shift to production-related bonuses, which McArthur flatly refused to contemplate, demanding instead an across-the-board 15% pay rise combined with a reduction in the working week. By mid-May, the miners were on strike. Following the winter, coal stocks at power stations were low, and within a month some power cuts started to be imposed. Arransia did not share an electricity grid with Brunswick, and the ability to import power directly was limited. Widespread secondary picketing made the physical import of coal by sea or across the border virtually impossible, and General Thomas McCulloch (b 1931), the C-in-C of the Marine Corps, advised the government that if his men were asked to use force to ensure coal deliveries, they would probably mutiny.

So, in mid-August, with the country rapidly sliding into crisis, Sinclair was forced to call a general election, asking the question “Who governs Arransia?” The Labour Party had been badly split over the issue, with the moderate leader John Methuen (1925-2004) taking the view that, although the government had been needlessly confrontational, McArthur was something of a hothead. However, on the day the election was called, the party ejected Methuen and installed in his place the more radical Ian Macrae (b 1928), who was more noted for his oratorical than administrative skills. There ensued a uniquely bitter election campaign against a background of power cuts, picket-line battles, and – ironically – glorious late summer weather.

It was hard to see what Sinclair could do to resolve the crisis if he won, although he talked of one or more of imposing martial law, introducing an Emergency Powers Act, and sacking any Marine commanders who refused to help break the strike. There were rumours that he would invite the Brunswickian Army to intervene, others that he would try to create a government of national unity and bring back the elderly Rostron as Chancellor. Macrae, in contrast, continued to insist that the miners’ demands were reasonable and that he was the only man who could resolve the situation. In the event, he won, but by a surprisingly narrow margin, Labour winning 152 seats to the Liberals’ 139 and 5 Independents. Some of Sinclair’s utterances in the final days of the campaign had seemed a touch unhinged, and shortly after the election he seemed to have some kind of nervous breakdown and was replaced, as first temporarily, and then permanently, by his former Minister of Finance, the donnish Robert Knox (b 1935).

Macrae rapidly came to a settlement with the miners, conceding most, although not all of their demands, and they were back at work within a week. However, matters were not quite so simple, as the government refused to increase the price charged for coal under the NMFF by anything like the same amount, fearing the inflationary effects. The result was that a growing trickle of the smaller and less productive mines began to be put into bankruptcy by their operators, and the miners made redundant with minimal compensation. Coal stocks had not been built up due to the strike during the summer, and by Christmas 1986 the APC had begun to impose a few power cuts again. The government reluctantly raised the coal price, resulting in an immediate 12% increase in domestic electricity prices.

But that made Arransian coal more expensive than foreign imports, and in February APC officially applied for a licence to import coal. Since Arransia had hundreds of years of coal reserves, this was self-evidently ridiculous, and the government could not allow it. Instead, they decided they would have to subsidise the electricity price from taxation, and in March the price rise was scaled back to 5%. However, the situation remained clearly unsustainable, and the Liberal MP Keith Wardle (b 1944) was taking the lead in taunting Macrae for the obvious contradictions in his policy. The margin on coal was also still insufficient for the less efficient mines to make money, and the trickle of closures continued.

In April, the miners at the small Hedley Whim colliery in western Edirn, near Ulpha, were issued with redundancy notices. This was an untypical mine in that it was managed by the owner, Thomas Dodge (b 1929), who came across more like a gentleman farmer who happened to have a coal mine on his land. It was a small, one-shift, single-shaft operation employing about 90 miners whose average age was not far short of 60. In fact, Dodge had held off making the miners redundant, but eventually felt he had no alternative. But the miners, concerned about their pension entitlements, went to see Dodge and privately agreed to maintain the official wage rate, but to work a number of “free” hours each week so the overall wage costs were no higher than they had been a year before. Dodge agreed to this, and they stayed at work.

What had been done was not entirely obvious, and it took a week or so before McArthur realised the facts, whereupon all hell broke loose. The miners were expelled from the union and McArthur ordered a mass picket. But Hedley Whim, with its small, antiquated winding gear set against a backdrop of steep, wooded hills, its little saddle-tank loco called “Betty”, its grizzled, salt-of-the-earth miners and its genial, bewhiskered mine-owner, made a strong appeal to the popular imagination and it was clear where public sympathy lay. When the mass picket (in fact only about three coach loads) turned up they were greeted by two Edirn police officers and about ten TV news crews. The miners duly started their shift, many of them arriving as usual on battered pushbikes, and the picket did not turn up the following day. Ironically, Hedley Whim now has two shifts, has opened up a second seam and employs nearly 300 people, and Dodge’s astute daughter capitalised on the publicity by launching Hedley Whim branded smokeless fuel. One of the most popular shows on Arransian TV is a nostalgic drama series set in the 1950s and revolving around a small rural coal mine not unlike Hedley Whim.

An even more embarrassing reverse was to come for McArthur. New Invention was a much larger colliery between Kersall and Whitcastle, near the Brunswick border, and about 25% of its 700 miners were cross-border commuters from South Holburn. It had never been particularly profitable, suffering from geological and flooding problems, and the previous December Midland Coal, generally regarded as the most hard-nosed of the “big three” mine operators, had not hesitated to put it into bankruptcy. In late April, some of the miners’ leaders approached the Earl of Laithe, the owner of the coal reserves, and asked to be allowed to run the mine as a workers’ co-operative. This was agreed, and at the beginning of May, the miners went back on site to prepare for restarting production. Behind the scenes, they also concluded a deal with APC to sell their coal at below the “official” price.

Not surprisingly, McArthur condemned this as a bosses’ plot, but the sight of a union leader criticising such a good Socialist concept as a workers’ co-operative was was ludicrous, and he lost whatever credibility he still had. Macrae made noises about nationalising the mineral rights with zero or minimal compensation, but it was clear that this was not politically feasible, and his own position was now very exposed, with the sardonic and tenacious Wardle making mincemeat of him in Parliament.

Following this, over the summer, the entire edifice of the NMFF collapsed. Progressively, every single coal mine in Arransia made an agreement whereby the miners gave some wage concessions to the operators. These were all different and not made public. At the same time, most of the mine operators also agreed an individual mine price with APC, taking account of the quality of their coal and the ease of supply. Again this was achieved by retaining the official price but giving covert rebates. By October, virtually every closed mine was back in production, and in fact a handful of mines that had been closed for some years had been reopened. Four separate mines were now operating as workers’ co-operatives. The miners, with few exceptions, were in fact slightly worse off than they had been at the start of 1986, and in practice the new arrangements went far further towards a free market than Sinclair’s original proposals. 1988 saw the highest level of coal production in Arransia since the 1950s, and a limited amount of coal exporting was begun, which by 2005 had reached 10 million tons a year. In fact, 2004 was an all-time record for Arransian coal production. Arransia currently has about 40,000 miners in about 115 collieries producing 45 million tons of coal a year.

Macrae seemed to be in complete denial about this, continuing to insist that the official wage and price levels were being maintained at all mines which, in terms of headline figures was strictly correct. In late September, when Parliament reconvened after the summer break, he was removed by a party coup – as he himself had removed Methuen – and Methuen restored to the party leadership, thus becoming Chancellor. Methuen in fact was a very competent leader, but his government was not surprisingly something of a lame duck after the coal crisis, and it came as no surprise when the Liberals won in 1990 and Knox replaced him as Chancellor. However, the closely-fought nature of Arransian politics was demonstrated by the fact that, despite Labour’s discomfiture, the Liberals only won 157 seats and an overall majority of 18.

Knox was happy to leave the NMFF in total disarray, but the subsequent Labour government of Gordon Bell between 1998 and 2002 restored some order by forcing APC to make its coal purchase prices public. He also reintroduced official national minimum pay scales for underground workers, although the figure of $7.00 an hour for adults was no more in nominal terms than had applied at the beginning of 1986. As workers’ co-operatives are run on a profit-sharing basis it is impossible to insist that they pay more than the minimum wage, but in fact one co-operative was officially wound up when it became clear that the miners were effectively working for about $2 an hour, in the probably deluded hope they would find a new seam. The practice of hourly-paid workers donating “free” hours was banned as there was evidence that it had been abused in some other industries, which forced the mine operators to introduce more transparent pay scales. In fact, in Arransia it is mandatory to pay employees for all hours worked unless they earn over $30,000 a year and are able to exercise independent control over their own hours.

In hindsight, it is clear that the 1986-87 coal crisis was a major factor leading to the development of a more flexible economy in Arransia in the 1990s and the improvement in the country’s economic performance. Sinclair recovered his health and indeed successfully served as Knox’s Minister of Defence from 1990 to 1998. He is a very articulate and witty man and remains popular on the chat show circuit. However, it is unlikely that the Liberals will choose another former military man as leader for many years to come.

A note on mineral reserves and mining operations in Arransia

All mineral reserves in Arransia are privately owned. This contrasts with many other countries where they are considered the property of the State. At times, governments have considered nationalising mineral reserves, but the cost has always been felt to be prohibitive, and Arransian law is very strict on official confiscation of private property. Historically, mineral rights were directly linked with freeholds, but as land ownership became more diverse and complex, the two became increasingly divorced. However, if you own a freehold farm that has been in your family since before 1859, you will certainly own the mineral rights unless your family has specifically sold them off.

It is the normal practice for the owners of the mineral rights to licence mining to another body, and simply collect a royalty. However, in some cases the two are combined, either because the landowner mines on his own account, or because the mining syndicate have bought the mineral rights.

Most of the mineral rights were originally held by major landowners, often Earls and Barons, but many have been sold off, and landowning families now only account for about a third of the total. Between about 1890 and 1940, some were acquired by town and city corporations, but this practice has now been prohibited, althugh a few existing holdings remain. Another third are now owned by the mining syndicates who, confusingly, sometimes licence each other to extract coal. It often makes sense to have a single administrative office looking after two or three neighbouring collieries.

Three large mining syndicates evolved which now control about 85% of Arransian coal production – Tean Valley Coal, Midland Coal and Holburn & Teviot Coal. These are characteristic Arransian part-public, part-private bodies. Large stakes continue to be held in each by some of the main traditional coal-owning families such as the Earls of Laithe and Barons of Sorbie.

When South Holburn was returned to Arransia in early 2006, the ownership of the mineral rights remained with the Brunswickian government.

The complex law on mineral reserves and extraction is, not surprisingly, a fertile source of litigation, and Arransia even has legal practices specialising in mineral rights.

As well as coal, Arransia also has reserves of iron ore, lead, copper, tin and zinc, but little is now mined commercially. Iron ore for steel production is imported, the largest single supplier being the Southern Hemisphere country of Barrozo. A substantial amount of ore also comes from Brunswick.

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