Tyrone O'Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Tyrone O'Sullivan OBE (born c. 1945, Wales
), is a Welsh
former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Branch Secretary, and current Chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd., the owners of Tower Colliery
.
, into a mining family - both his father and grandfather were coal miners. After he joined Tower Colliery as an apprentice electrician, in 1963 (three years before the Aberfan disaster), his father was killed at Tower Colliery in a roof collapse.
O’Sullivan became the Branch Secretary of the NUM branch of Tower Colliery in 1973. As an NUM activist, he became a flying picket, moving around Wales
at the behest of Arthur Scargill
, in the 1973 and 1974 strikes to oust Prime Minister
Edward Heath
's Conservative
government.
boss Ian MacGregor
announced plans to close 20 pits and do away with 25,000 jobs in 1984, the planned closure of Cortonwood
provoked a movement of Yorkshire
miners who appealed to other coalfields for support. In light of the lack of support from Yorkshire
with regards closures in South Wales
, the South Wales branch as a region voted 3:1 against a strike.
O'Sullivan explained to his members at Tower the probable result of not fighting the closures, and gained 99% support:
O’Sullivan led flying pickets, a highly mobile type of picketing, from Tower over the following week to every pit in the South Wales region, as a result of which the pits had met and agreed to support the 1984/5 national miners strike
. O'Sullivan later led the group of miners leaders against a national ballot during the strike, as it would have needed to included the Nottinghamshire
branch, who would have voted against it - its leadership later formed the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers
.
He disclosed on the closure of Tower Colliery that he and his family knew at the time of the strike that their private home telephone had been bugged by MI5
. Throughout the strike, O’Sullivan led groups of Tower miners around the country, drumming up support for the strike — O'Sullivan later joking that during the strike he spent more time in various bedrooms around the country with Glynn Roberts (later head of Human Resources at Tower Colliery), than his wife. These actions included a group who went to the village of Wivenhoe
, where a group of Tower miners went to stop overseas import coal from coming into the harbour. O’Sullivan also acknowledged the changed role of women during the strike:
A taxi driver David Wilkie
was killed when his car was hit by a concrete block dropped from an over bridge, and three miners within O'Sullivan's area were implicated.
, announced closure of 31 of Britain's 50 working mines. After public outcry, the Government reviewed the status of 21 of them, with 12 temporarily reprieved, including Tower. However, in 1994, after its closure was ordered by Michael Heseltine
of the Conservative government of John Major
, the Tower miners decided to mount publicity campaign. It didn't work, and on 23 April 1994 British Coal announced the closure of Tower. After the mine closed, the miners retreated to the club in Penywaun
and agreed to O’Sullivan's suggestion for the buyout of the mine. The deal was secured when 239 miners each paid £8,000 from their redundancy payouts to buy shares in Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd, the vehicle which then borrowed an additional £2million to buy the pit from British Coal
. The pit was reopened on 2 January 1995, after the miners led a triumphant march back to the colliery. O’Sullivan’s famed 1994 quote, who had by now been appointed personnel director of the new company, later became a line in a locally produced opera
by Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott
:
O'Sullivan was probably nearer to the truth in that quote than any other reason for buying the pit, as local unemployment then was 30% in Aberdare
, and would have risen to 40% had Tower and its 400 employee's joined the dole que.
with his wife, Elaine. The couple have two daughters, and three grandchildren.
in the 1996 New Years Honours List, O'Sullivan is an adviser to the Welsh Development Agency
and an Honorary Fellow of University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
), is a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Branch Secretary, and current Chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd., the owners of Tower Colliery
Tower Colliery
Tower Colliery is the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, and the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys...
.
Biography
O'Sullivan was born in the heart of the South Wales coalfieldSouth Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...
, into a mining family - both his father and grandfather were coal miners. After he joined Tower Colliery as an apprentice electrician, in 1963 (three years before the Aberfan disaster), his father was killed at Tower Colliery in a roof collapse.
O’Sullivan became the Branch Secretary of the NUM branch of Tower Colliery in 1973. As an NUM activist, he became a flying picket, moving around Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
at the behest of Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
, in the 1973 and 1974 strikes to oust Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
's Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
government.
1984 strike
When National Coal BoardNational Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
boss Ian MacGregor
Ian MacGregor
Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor, KBE was a Scottish-American metallurgist and industrialist, most famous in the UK for his controversial tenure at British Steel and his conduct during the 1984-1985 miner's strike while managing the National Coal Board.-Early life:Born in Kinlochleven, Scotland, his...
announced plans to close 20 pits and do away with 25,000 jobs in 1984, the planned closure of Cortonwood
Cortonwood
Cortonwood Colliery was sunk in 1873, a year after the formation of the Brampton Colliery Company, which took its name from the local parish of Brampton Bierlow, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England....
provoked a movement of Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
miners who appealed to other coalfields for support. In light of the lack of support from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
with regards closures in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, the South Wales branch as a region voted 3:1 against a strike.
O'Sullivan explained to his members at Tower the probable result of not fighting the closures, and gained 99% support:
O’Sullivan led flying pickets, a highly mobile type of picketing, from Tower over the following week to every pit in the South Wales region, as a result of which the pits had met and agreed to support the 1984/5 national miners strike
UK miners' strike (1984–1985)
The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
. O'Sullivan later led the group of miners leaders against a national ballot during the strike, as it would have needed to included the Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
branch, who would have voted against it - its leadership later formed the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers
Union of Democratic Mineworkers
The Union of Democratic Mineworkers is a British trade union not recognised by the TUC or the Labour party for coal miners, which is based in Nottinghamshire, England...
.
He disclosed on the closure of Tower Colliery that he and his family knew at the time of the strike that their private home telephone had been bugged by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
. Throughout the strike, O’Sullivan led groups of Tower miners around the country, drumming up support for the strike — O'Sullivan later joking that during the strike he spent more time in various bedrooms around the country with Glynn Roberts (later head of Human Resources at Tower Colliery), than his wife. These actions included a group who went to the village of Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe is a town in north eastern Essex, England, approximately south east of Colchester. Historically Wivenhoe village, on the banks of the River Colne, and Wivenhoe Cross, on the higher ground to the north, were two separate settlements but with considerable development in the 19th century the...
, where a group of Tower miners went to stop overseas import coal from coming into the harbour. O’Sullivan also acknowledged the changed role of women during the strike:
A taxi driver David Wilkie
Killing of David Wilkie
David Wilkie was killed during the miners' strike in the United Kingdom, when two striking miners dropped a concrete block from a footbridge onto his taxi whilst driving a strike breaking miner to his workplace. The attack caused a widespread revulsion at the extent of violence in the dispute...
was killed when his car was hit by a concrete block dropped from an over bridge, and three miners within O'Sullivan's area were implicated.
Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd
In October 1992, the Conservative Government as part of a privatisation program of British CoalBritish Coal
thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...
, announced closure of 31 of Britain's 50 working mines. After public outcry, the Government reviewed the status of 21 of them, with 12 temporarily reprieved, including Tower. However, in 1994, after its closure was ordered by Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
of the Conservative government of John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, the Tower miners decided to mount publicity campaign. It didn't work, and on 23 April 1994 British Coal announced the closure of Tower. After the mine closed, the miners retreated to the club in Penywaun
Penywaun
Penywaun is a village in the Cynon Valley situated between Aberdare and Hirwaun, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.-Background:The population of Penywaun is approximately 3,300....
and agreed to O’Sullivan's suggestion for the buyout of the mine. The deal was secured when 239 miners each paid £8,000 from their redundancy payouts to buy shares in Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd, the vehicle which then borrowed an additional £2million to buy the pit from British Coal
British Coal
thumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...
. The pit was reopened on 2 January 1995, after the miners led a triumphant march back to the colliery. O’Sullivan’s famed 1994 quote, who had by now been appointed personnel director of the new company, later became a line in a locally produced opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
:
O'Sullivan was probably nearer to the truth in that quote than any other reason for buying the pit, as local unemployment then was 30% in Aberdare
Aberdare
Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
, and would have risen to 40% had Tower and its 400 employee's joined the dole que.
Family
O'Sullivan lives in MumblesMumbles
Mumbles or The Mumbles is an area and community in Swansea, Wales which takes its name from the adjacent headland stretching into Swansea Bay...
with his wife, Elaine. The couple have two daughters, and three grandchildren.
Award
Awarded the OBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 1996 New Years Honours List, O'Sullivan is an adviser to the Welsh Development Agency
Welsh Development Agency
The Welsh Development Agency was a QUANGO and later an Assembly Sponsored Public Body established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales, to clear derelict land and to encourage growth of local businesses...
and an Honorary Fellow of University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
Cardiff Metropolitan University is a university situated in Cardiff. It operates from three campuses: Llandaff on Western Avenue, Cyncoed, and Howard Gardens in the City Centre. The university serves over 12,000 students...
.