Remembering Wapping

 be the first to comment

Posted by Paul Routledge The Daily Mirror

And so to Unite the union HQ for the launch of a web site about the Wapping dispute of 1986-87, in which I had a minor walk-on (more correctly walk-out) part. Rupert Murdoch sacked 5,500 print workers when he moved his News International titles, including The Times, for which I then worked, to London docklands.

His aim was to smash the power of print unions in the industry, aided and abetted by the Thatcher government, the police, the courts and fellow-publishers. The year-long dispute following hard on the heels of the miners' strike was widely touted as the end of the trade union movement. It wasn't. Six million people still voluntarily belong to a union, making it the largest single body of its kind in the UK, dwarfing the membership of all the political parties.

The spirit of Wapping lives on. Experience it at www.wapping-dispute.org.uk where this epic sometimes tragic struggle comes to life.

Your comments:

---

Add your comment here

Your IP address is: 81.95.52.15

Please insert your name here

Type your message here.

Comments will be subject to approval and should not be defamatory, obscene, racist, in breach of copyright, or contrary to law. The CPBF is not reponsible for any views expressed here.