Shifting Horizons by Lynn Beaton
Through the struggle which has been written about in this book, we have found a confidence which we never knew we had. We have proved to ourselves and our men that we are as strong as they are. We learnt so much in this, our struggle, and we know now that it is the same struggle as many others, against racism, for minority groups, against nuclear weapons and against the racist regime in South Africa; but the list is endless. They are all just examples of working class people struggling for an equal chance out of life.
Before the strike, we used to think that we couldn’t voice our opinion, now we know that we have a voice and we will make it heard. We intend to continue with our struggle and making our voice heard, we are both activists in the Labour Party Women’s Section, we have joined our local community centre and we are active in this. We still have Blidworth Action Group meetings and we are now concentrating on issues like Greenham Common and the cutbacks in the National Health Service.
We have both gone back to work in a factory together and the first thing we wanted to know was, ‘Is there a union?’ When we last worked we didn’t even know if there was one. Although the miners’ strike was a hard and bitter struggle we know that there are thousands of women whose lives, like ours, have changed for the better. Finally, we are very grateful to Lynn for writing this book, for us it is a chance to let the working class movement of this country know how we feel and how much we realise that the struggle still goes on.
Doreen Humber
Pauline Radford.
Blidworth 1985