I really am gasping like a fish out of water. And I’m in pain. The Miners’ Film, Youtube 46.37, miner, Cinema Action 1974/5
Miners’ ban on overtime a tactic to reduce coal stocks November ’73 to January ’74. ibid. caption
They [miners] are being restricted to negotiate a reasonable wage directly with the employer. ibid. miner
It we fail, everyone else fails. ibid.
They [police] are just stopping and harassing all the time. ibid.
1954: 699,000 miners; 1974: 252,000 Miners. ibid.
81% of miners vote for strike action Jan/Feb 1974. ibid.
Dockers fight for the right to work. Arise Ye Workers: The Dockers’ Fight, caption, 1973
We believe that the way it’s been handled in our industry is an example of employers’ greed. ibid. docker
These unregistered docks are a sore problem in relation to our industry. ibid.
Mass workers’ action: we march on Pentonville. ibid. caption
The five of us was put in [prison] by a political court and it was the trade union movement that got us out. ibid. docker
‘What they are scared of is a redistribution of power and wealth in this country.’ Strike: Inside the Unions I, Mick Lynch, BBC 2023
During the final months of 2022 Britain was engulfed in a cost of living crisis. Millions of working people in need of a pay rise turned to trade unions. And at this critical moment in their history, unions have opened their doors to cameras. ibid.
This is the biggest wave of strikes the country has seen in decades. ibid.
There are now threatened strikes by teachers, postal workers, civil servants, and right across the NHS. ibid.
In the midst of the UK’s new Winter of Discontent the government and unions are deadlocked. As the surge of strikes spreads and moves into its most intense phase yet we’re inside the setbacks and victories in the biggest industrial struggle for a generation. Strike: Inside the Unions II
Amazon employees in Coventry … The first official UK Amazon strike. ibid.
In South London the Abellio bus drivers are on their seventeenth day of strike action over pay and better working conditions. ibid.
February 2023: 348,000 days lost to industrial action in the UK. ibid.
For the Royal College of Nursing an escalation of strikes is also on the agenda. ibid.
Abellio: An 18% increase. ibid.
Austin, Minnesota, 1986: ‘Enough is enough. We want jobs and justice.’ American Dream, 1990, Jesse Jackson to meeting of Hormel strikers
Geo A Hormel & Co: In 1984 declared profits of $29.5 million. That year Hormel cut wages from $10.69 to $8.25 per hour claiming the need to stay competitive. ibid. captions
Jim Guyete president Local Union P-9: ‘Their pride is hurt because they can’t fulfil the needs of their family and they’ve somehow got to go on welfare programs. People are very angry, hurt, upset, frustrated.’ ibid.
‘The company strategy is a clear one. They want to freeze us out. They want to starve us out.’ ibid.
571 workers were fired at Hormel’s other plants for honoring P-9’s picket line. ibid. caption
With the coal strike now in its 32nd week, Ian MacGregor and Arthur Scargill are still a long way apart. World in Action: The Coal War, ITV 1984
Ten years ago Ian MacGregor took on the mighty American Miners’ Union and broke them in the coal-rich western states … Mr MacGregor and Mr Scargill then have both tasted victory and now they seem just as determined to win again. ibid.
Kentucky 1974: A company foreman opened fire on pickets after a year-long strike. ibid.
The Wilberforce Settlement had recognised the special physical discomforts and dangers of the miner’s life. But by ’73 average earnings in the coal fields had fallen behind the national figure of £38 per week. This Week, re Winter Dispute 1973/4, Thames TV 1978
The coal board made an offer which was bound to be rejected … The miners were in no mood to be placated or to respond to appeals to their national duty. ibid.
One strike off; another one threatened. And this was supposed to be the age of the train. TV Eye, Thames TV 1982
Aslef have never agreed to give up the eight-hour day first negotiated in 1919. ibid.
It’s not just money that’s at the basis of the dispute. Flexible rostering would mean 4,000 fewer drivers. ibid.
The unions have seen many jobs go in the last ten years. ibid.
A film based principally on events that took place in Lancashire in the spring of 1970. Play for Today s1e15: The Rank & File, caption, BBC 1971
This was the battleground. Here where we lived and worked was where we fought the enemy. ibid. commentary
The union enjoyed the protection closed shop where contributions were automatically deducted from workers’ pay packets. ibid.
I will put the proposition to the floor myself: gentlemen, do you agree that we should come out on strike? ibid. worker
This is not an official strike, it’s an unofficial strike. ibid. union officer
It’s about they sent someone down here to sort this port out. The Wednesday Play: The Big Flame ***** by Jim Allen, man to Mr Garfield from the ministry, BBC 1969
Any attempt to change the basic working habits of men and to introduce new ideas and new methods of production is bound to create a certain climate of fear and apprehension. Now this we can understand and sympathise with. However, what we cannot understand, and what the government cannot tolerate, is the activities of a certain group of irresponsible people who exploit the situation by fomenting strikes and discord within the industry. ibid. Garfield
The only people who didn’t see the [Devlin] Report was the dockers themselves. ibid. union rep in meeting to Garfield
The biggest exponents of restrictive practices are the employers themselves. ibid.
We’re on a mandate to come and put to you our proposals. ibid.
There’s bound to be a certain shakedown in labour. ibid. Garfield
You’ve neither given nor offered us anything. ibid. union rep to Garfield
You’re really exposed, you’re really out on a limb, and the only thing that you can cling to is your own mates, and the objective of what you’re fighting for. ibid. dockers’ commentary
The men have done everything they can to settle things peacefully: the strike is the last resort. ibid.
Well, we’ve got 10,000 lads out and their families. ibid. docker
I mean, being thrown out of the union isn’t a bad thing, is it. ibid.
I want to see the big flame, Danny. I want to see one big solid mass of us that’s point the finger at those raiders and say, You failed in your management of society, so pack your traps, think yourself lucky, and go. ibid. Jack
Either you continue with this hit and run policy or the dockers take over the ports … Let’s have a workers’ control now. ibid.
For the first time in your lives you’ve been offered a taste of true democracy. ibid. rep to collected workers
But at least let’s make the attempt. ibid.
It doesn’t need no boss. ibid. commentary
At every pit, at every factory, at every building site, at every docks, the work people involved will elect their own delegates, the best men on the job, the most responsible men. They in turn will elect delegates to the Congress or to the Parliament. The Congress for the first time in history will be composed of people directly representing the work people, in the factory, on the job, at the point of production. They’ll be subject to the right of immediate recall. They’ll have to explain every decision they make. This is the basis of taproots. ibid.
All day long convoys of troops have been arriving, and additional police reinforcements drafted in from neighbouring towns, as this takeover by 10,000 Merseyside dockers enters its second day … ibid. news
We’re here to assist the police in maintaining law and order … The reason we’re here is to see there isn’t any violence. ibid. army bloke
It’s a conspiracy, it seems obvious, between the employers and the government. ibid. union rep
Man’s never had the chance to show how good he can be. ibid. Jack
‘Don’t mourn. Organise.’ ibid. docker quotes Joe Hill
There inside the gates! The police and the army! ibid. docker
Now it’s the ringleaders we’re after. ibid. man with megaphone
This film is based on events which took place in Leeds during the winter of 1970. Thursday February 12th 1970 … when there were twelve pennies in a shilling. Play for Today: Leeds United, by Colin Welland, BBC 1974
I wouldn’t want my time over again not for bucket of bloody bobs. ibid. woman on bus
The company has no contractual arrangements relating to incapacity to work due to sickness or injury covering your employment. ibid. employers’ commentary
The company has no contractual pension scheme covering your employment. ibid.
I’ve got a skill. A trade for life. ibid. young woman
We want a substantial increase … We want equal pay for women. And when you see how these lasses work, they bloody well deserve it. ibid. union rep
Sod the union, give us a bob! ibid. chant of branch meeting
We are at war with our union because they are incompetent, they are inept and at times they are downright bloody cowardly. But the real enemy’s still up there, the bloody masters, the most ruthless, arrogant and vindictive bosses in contemporary industrial Britain. ibid. union rep
‘First there’ll be the blacks and Asians. Then the Jews and Irish. And this ain’t easy speeches – this is true. And then it’ll be the unions. Oh ar make no mistake. The Labour Party: that’ll do. The others too. All in the interests of the nation. And to save the nation, they’ll destroy the nation. All of it except themselves. And if we let ’em, we’ve got ourselves to blame. Our fault. We turned our back.’ Play for Today: Destiny, BBC 1978