2012 is the 40th anniversary of the historic working class victory of Saltley Gate, closing the huge Saltley coke depot and helping win the 1972 strike for the miners.

At a time of unprecedented attacks on our living standards and welfare state, Taking the Gloves Off looks at key battles and victories of the past – not in nostalgia but seeking ideas for winning a better world for the future.

In 1972 the Tory government introduced the Industrial Relations Act aiming to make workers pay for the crisis of capitalism. Resistance followed. The miners, with solidarity from 30,000 Birmingham engineers striking in support, broke the wage restraint and put the Tory government on the defensive…