In 1984, when National Coat Board boss Ian MacGregor announced plans to close 20 pits and do away with 25,000 jobs, the planned closure of Cortonwood provoked a movement of Yorkshire miners who appealed to the other coalfields for support.
Tyrone O’Sullivan explained to his members at Tower the probable result of not fighting the closures and gained 99% support.
“I phoned Emlyn Williams who was President of the South Wales areas of the NUM and told him of my unease. His pit had voted for action but they were not going out on strike as they had been beaten by the area vote. I suggested something could be done. Emlyn said – do what you can, but don’t tell me,” he said.
He 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 1984/85 national miners strike.