Then and Now: Vulnerable Workers, Industrial Action, and the Law in the 1970s and Today

Abstract

At a time when strikes are on the verge of disappearance, at least according to official figures, interest in them seems increasingly rare But at any hint of the spectre of industrial militancy, talk of unwarranted withdrawal of labour, mass picketing, and 'bringing the country to its knees' soon re-emerges Images are presented of men raising their hands at mass meetings in favour of a walkout;presented as 'a world to which we must not return' Labour's announcement in its 2019 election manifesto of plans to replace Conservative trade-union legislation was greeted by the Sun -reminding readers that it had first coined the label 'Winter of Discontent' in 1978 - as heralding 'a red riot … to paralyse Britain' 1 The Mail Online reported that John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, 'refused to rule out restoring the punishing secondary striking rights which crippled Britain's public services in the 1970s' 2 The Daily Telegraph has even asked if the COVID-19 pandemic might prove to be the winter of discontent for this generation 3 This review analyses three strikes - the origins of each dispute, their external support and the importance of picketing - and assesses the impact of trade-union legislation on industrial action © 2020 Liverpool University Press All rights reserved