Scar ‧ gill, Arthur /ˈskɑːɡɪl $ ˈskɑːr-/ BrE AmE
(1938–) a British ↑ trade union leader, who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (1981–2000). He is remembered especially for leading Britain’s coal miners in a long but unsuccessful ↑ strike (=occasion when workers stop working in order to protest or ask for higher pay) in 1984 to 1985, and for his strong opposition to Margaret Thatcher. He was a very effective public speaker, and in the 1990s he often criticized the leaders of the Labour Party and said that they had given up their ↑ left-wing principles.