"Winter of Discontent" Begins (1978)
Fri Sep 22, 1978
Image: A crowd of strikers in the Winter of Discontent
On this day in 1978, one of the first strikes of the British "Winter of Discontent" began when 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), began an unofficial strike.
The Winter of Discontent took place during 1978-79 in the United Kingdom, characterized by widespread strikes from both private and public sector trade unions. Some of these industrial disputes caused great public inconvenience, exacerbated by the coldest winter in 16 years in which severe storms isolated many remote areas of the country.
On September 22nd, 1978, one of the first strikes of the "Winter of Discontent" began when 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), began an unofficial strike.
The number of participants later grew to 57,000. As the months progressed, workers from multiple industries went on strike, including lorry drivers, garbage collectors, and gravediggers. It was the largest UK labor stoppage since 1926.
The Winter was a disaster for the incumbent Labour Party. The magazine Socialist Worker quoted one council worker as saying "We had to strike because Labour betrayed us".
The Labour Party was swept out of power in the 1979 election, leading to the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
- Date: 1978-09-22
- Learn More: socialistworker.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org, libcom.org.
- Tags: #Labor.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org