The Battle of Saltley Gate - Close the Gates!

In Febru
ary 1972 some 30,000 Birmingham engineers walked out on strike  in solidarity with striking miners
who were fighting against austerity pay

deals. Up to 15,000 then marched to join miners who were picketing Saltley coke depot. The blockade forced the police, who had kept the depot open all week, to surrender and close the gates.
Militant picketing involving tens of thousands of miners had shut down power stations, docks and coal depots. But the victory at Saltley, won through solidarity strikes, was the turning point for the miners. Within seven weeks the government was defeated.

Today, working people face a similar assault on their living conditions. November 2011 saw millions of workers strike in Britain in the biggest show of united action in generations.

Forty years on the Battle of Saltley Gate carries powerful lessons for a working class that is once again stirring.

Read an outline of how the gates were closed here.


Pamphlet tracing the events at the Battle of Saltley Gate and the growth of militancy in the mines and engineering click here


This website celebrates the victory at Saltley Gate. Click here for article links and click here to read articles on this site.

We have images, song and video links to items about Saltley Gate. We will also compile links to recent news items.

If you have articles or pictures you would like linked, or hosted, on this site please email saltleygateinfo@gmail.com

If you were at the Battle of Saltley Gate and would like to send us your story we will post it on the site