Thirty Years Since Grunwick Strike - Essay Example

? 1976 Grunwick Strike 1976 Grunwick Strike There are basically two events which are important in history as far as the strategies are concern of the State through the black community and the black section which is the part of the working class. First was the committee report which was by the house of commons and was on the community of west Indian and the other important event was by the Asian workers and lasted for 10 months , the GrunWick Strike which was in film processing factory. Grunwick Strike was 1976-1978 strike that started in the laboratories at Brent, North London and it was the first strike involving majority of strikers from various ethnic minorities and they received a lot of support from the Labor movement. It started due to poor conditions of labor and compulsory cruel over time for the labor. During the period of 1970s Labor movement was taking notice of racisisam and its affect it had on the labor and the labor policies. The trade union consisted of 11.5 million members. There were pamphlets and dvds which were offered starting from Brent trade council which showed the highlights of the movement. It was also talking about the work which the employers of George Ward were doing in order to fight for the trade unionism. The movement was supported by the conservative party, the national association of Freedom and police and the court. Here it is also important to talk about the trade union leadership which was basically giving vocal support to their members but they were not prepared properly in order to provide support to their members until the bitter end came of the strike, which made the strikers stop and accept the court action against them. Grunwicks was basically a photograph factory that was located in Brent, North London and it was run by the anti union employer named as George Ward. There were many strikes and work done earlier as well in order to gain the recognition for the workers however it 1976 the strike ked by Jayaben Desai started with 137 workers supporting his work. Though the end result which they had to face was they all being sacked but it was a proper strike ever that took place thus it was successful in at least starting a cause even if they had to face failure in the beginning. Local citizens, advice bureau and even Apex joined them so that an official recognition is given to the strike. The strikers were new and they had never been involved in anything which was against the rulling class but here they were not only against the ruling class but they were also fighting a battle which was between the trade movements and the people who was ruling them. Political aspect of this strike was clearly visible to the strikers who got the results and and answer very quickly. There were many solidarity actions which were spreading around the trade union movement as the strike lasted for a longer period of time and it became a very common thing around. People around boycotted the Grunwick factory and people were stopped to send photos to them for processing, even George Ward was not successful in stopping the strike. Many workers and members of other departments also joined hands with them which include local postal workers who became members of the union of postal workers and they stopped delivering posts. There were also some water and electricity cut offs but Apex and TUC was not involved in it and it was not evening supporting that. (Socialist Appeal ). All the actions of the postal workers were stopped as ordered by the union but Len Murray still attended one meeting of TUC that took place in Brent. The act of Mass picketing started in June 1977 and there were almost 3000 pickets. Police became very active as well who arrested almost 84 people. There was almost a civil war atmosphere created as there were scenes which were to familiarize the minor strikes and the atmosphere was just like a civil war atmosphere. 12000 pickets basically blockaded the factory for almost six hours where the branches of the national union of miners which belonged to Kent and Yorkshire were also a part of it. Strikers also left the strike area during the middle of the day and went to the center town in Brent and they stopped the flow of Buses (WARD, G. 1977). Strike blame was put on the compromise which took place between the strike committee and the leader who was with the Apex and who were supporting apex. Many writers wrote about this strike and they were not happy with some of the movements and actions which took place during the strike which includes actions like mass picketing and also power supplies and the power lines being cut off. Many advises and suggestion were given regarding the actions of the strikers from the advisory, conciliation and Artitratin services suggesting the recognition which was followed by a ballot that took place in March 1977 where was TUC was in favor and supporting the court of inquiry. Now the question comes here of who is suppose to be balloted, the strikers should be balloted or it should be the entire workforce (Wiley Online Library). George Ward who was the head of the factory did not support the workers inside the factory to be balloted. They were taking advantage of the actions such as pay rises which would not have been there if the strike was not started to taking place. Here there was Law lords who were ruling the ACAS recommendation which were recognized and also understood by the union. It was almost a year since the strike started and now by the end of the 1977 frustration started rising among the workers. There were difference of opinion amongst the TUC and the APEX where on one side the TUC were supporting the backed down where the important services to the factory will be blocked and on the other hand APEX was asking to end the mass picketing (University of Warwick). The situation became extremely difficult and bitter. Various incidents took place, one of them included the gathering of 8000 pickets which came together outside the factory and in that almost 243 were injured. This also made some of the supporters of the strikers goes against them, which includes Tory Press as well which became against the strikers. There were many reasons and causes of the strikes, strike was revolutionary as Asian and also female workers stood up and took an action against their employers and for their support. There were many disputes also by the women who were in press popularly known as the “Strikers in saris” (Lincoln Research Blog). It was majorly consisting of the immigrants which included the East African strikers along with dubbed strikers who were in saris. There were hunger strikes by these people outside the trade union congress. It was the first time when many ethnic minorities came forward and still received support that was from the labor movement. There were series of incidents which took place during the strike , Dismissals being the first one where dismissal of Devshi Bhudia followed by Bharat Patel, Suresh Ruparelia and also Chandrakant Patel, took place which was at the firm’s chapter road premises . Over all the conditions were sad , before the strike the pay which the workers was getting was very less and also to use the toilets the workers were asked to put their hands up. Overtime was compulsory without requirement. Ethnic minorities and women were also not given their due right but the situation changed after the strike. The financial benefits which were offered to the workers increased and also the rates were not only increased but they were high compared to the other industries. Taking permission in order to use the washroom was also eliminated and also the overtime was made compulsory only in busy times and not all the time (ROGALY, J. 1977).The strike eventually ended during 1978, it was not the workers unity or the determination or strength which made them end the strike or lose the strike in fact it was the leaders who were part of the trade union which caused the failure of the strike. The strike was totally an eye opener or many who though belonged to various backgrounds and ethnic minorities but the major highlighting point was the unity which was shown, although there were many anti racist organizations supporting the strike along with feminist groups and trade unions the strike failed. But it was successful in leaving an impact especially for the recognitions of the rights of the women and the minorities equal to the white working men (Guardian news). Over all we can safely say the 1977 Grunwick strike although is considered to be a strike that failed was successful in recognizing the rights of the Black, ethnic minorities and women, although the strike failed in achieving the set goal which they had but it was good in making the trade unions realize their importance and their significance. They knew here that they cannot leave back their rights as they have the strength to get united and together and carry out actions which can have an impact on everything. Thus we can say that 1976 strike had a major impact on making the trade unions and equality legislations realize the importance of the Black, ethnic minorities and the women of the society and also to treat them equally by giving them their equal right just like white workers and men. 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