Editing Three-Day Week (section)

==Background==
Throughout the 1970s the British economy was troubled by high rates of inflation. To tackle this, the government capped public sector pay rises and publicly promoted a clear capped level to the private sector. This caused unrest amongst trade unions as wages did not keep pace with price increases. This extended to most industries, including coal mining, which provided the majority of the country's fuel and had a powerful trade union.

By the middle of 1973, the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|National Union of Mineworkers]] (NUM) – drawn from a workforce who almost wholly worked for the [[National Coal Board]] – were becoming more militant with the election of [[Mick McGahey]] as vice-president. The national conference passed resolutions for a 35% wage increase, regardless of any government guidelines, and for the election of a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government committed to "true socialist policy" including nationalisation of land and all key monopolies.<ref name="StrikeNotTheEnd25"/>

As inflation increased, miners' wages fell in real terms and, by October 1973, average wages were 2.3% lower than recommended by the [[UK miners' strike (1972)#Wilberforce Inquiry|Wilberforce Inquiry]], which reported on miners' pay in 1972. In November 1973, the national executive committee of the NUM rejected the pay offer from the NCB and held a national ballot on a strike. The vote was rejected by 143,006 to 82,631.  However, an overtime ban was implemented with the aim of halving production. This action hurt the coal industry and was unpopular amongst the British media, although the [[Trades Union Congress]] supported the NUM's actions.<ref name="StrikeNotTheEnd25"/>