Winter of Discontent
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, during which there were widespread strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
s by local authority trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s demanding larger pay rises for their members, because the Labour government of James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
sought to hold a pay freeze to control inflation. The weather turned very cold in the early months of 1979 with blizzards and deep snow, and it became the coldest since 1962–63, which added to people's misery.
The strikes were a result of the Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government's attempt to control inflation by imposing rules on the public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
that pay rises be kept below 5%, as an example to the private sector. However, employers conducted their negotiations within mutually agreed limits with their employees' unions. While the strikes were largely over by February 1979, the government's inability to contain the strikes earlier helped lead to Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
victory in the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
and legislation to restrict unions. Public sector employee strike actions included an unofficial strike by gravedigger
Gravedigger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker responsible for digging graves used in the process of burial.-Fossors:Fossor or Fossarius , from the Latin verb fodere 'to dig', referred to grave diggers in the Roman catacombs in the first three centuries of the Christian Era...
s working in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
, and strikes by refuse collectors. Additionally, NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
ancillary workers formed picket lines to blockade hospital entrances with the result that many hospitals were reduced to taking emergency patients only.
The phrase "Winter of Discontent" is from the opening line of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
: "Now is the Winter of our Discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...
…", and was first applied to the events of the winter by Robin Chater, a writer at Incomes Data Report. It was subsequently used in a speech by Prime Minister Callaghan and then popularised by several tabloid newspapers - including The Sun in an editorial.
Background
The Labour governments of Harold WilsonHarold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and James Callaghan
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
had been fighting for several years against inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
, which had peaked at 26.9% in the 12 months to August 1975, but wished to avoid large increases in unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
. As part of the campaign to bring down inflation, the government had agreed a 'social contract
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
' with the Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
which allowed for a voluntary incomes policy
Incomes policy
Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually below market level.Incomes policies have often been resorted to during wartime...
in which the pay rises for workers were held down to limits set by the government. Previous governments had brought in incomes policies backed by Acts of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
, but the social contract agreed that this would not happen.
Phases I and II
Phase I of the pay policy was announced on 11 July 1975 with a white paper
White paper
A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
entitled The Attack on Inflation. It proposed a limit on wage rises of £6 per week for all earning below £8,500 annually. The TUC general council had accepted these proposals by 19 votes to 13. On 5 May 1976 the TUC accepted a new policy for the forthcoming year's negotiations of increases beginning 1 August between £2.50 and £4 per week; at the annual Congress on 8 September that year it rejected a motion which called for a return to free collective bargaining (which meant no incomes policy at all) once the agreement expired on 1 August 1977. This proposal became Phase II of the incomes policy.
Phase III
On 15 July 1977 the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
Denis Healey
Denis Healey
Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey CH, MBE, PC is a British Labour politician, who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979.-Early life:...
announced Phase III of the incomes policy in which there was to be a phased return to free collective bargaining, without "a free-for-all." After prolonged negotiations, the TUC agreed to continue with the increases recommended for that year under Phase II limits and not to try to reopen agreements made under the previous policy, while the Government agreed not to intervene in pay negotiations. The Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
criticised the lack of any stronger policy. The inflation rate continued to fall through 1977 and by 1978 the annual rate fell below 10%.
The 5% limit
Despite having prepared for the end of the incomes policy, on 21 July 1978 Denis Healey introduced a new White Paper which set a guideline for pay rises of 5% in the year from August 1 (Callaghan's initial preference had been for 3%, but other ministers considered this totally unachievable). The TUC voted overwhelmingly on 26 July to reject the limit and insist on a return to free collective bargaining as they were promised. Unexpectedly, on 7 September, Prime Minister James Callaghan announced that he would not be calling a general election that autumn but seeking to go through the winter with continued pay restraint so that the economy would be in a better state in preparation for a spring election. The pay limit was officially termed 'Phase IV' but most referred to it as 'the 5% limit.' Although the government did not make the 5% limit a legal requirement, it decided to impose sanctions on government contractors who broke the limit.
Ford negotiations
Although not an official guideline, the pay rise set by Ford of BritainFord of Britain
Ford of Britain is a British wholly owned subsidiary of Ford of Europe, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. Its business started in 1909 and has its registered office in Brentwood, Essex...
was accepted throughout private industry as a benchmark for negotiations. Ford had enjoyed a good year and could afford a large rise, but was a major government contractor. The management at Ford therefore made a pay offer within the 5% guidelines; 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) began an unofficial strike on 22 September, and the TGWU made it official from 5 October (the number of participants grew to 57,000). During the strike, Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors
Vauxhall Motors is a British automotive company owned by General Motors and headquartered in Luton. It was founded in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer, began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was acquired by GM in 1925. It has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for...
employees accepted an 8.5% rise. After long negotiation in which they weighed the chances of suffering from government sanctions against the continued damage of the strike, Ford eventually revised their offer to 17% and decided to accept the sanctions; Ford workers accepted the rise on 22 November.
Political difficulties
As the Ford strike was starting, the Labour Party conference began at BlackpoolBlackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
. Terry Duffy, the delegate from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
Wavertree Constituency Labour Party and a supporter of Militant Tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
, moved a motion on 2 October which demanded "that the Government immediately cease intervening in wage negotiations". Despite a plea not to put the motion to the vote from Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, the resolution was carried by 4,017,000 to 1,924,000. The next day, the Prime Minister accepted the fact of defeat by saying "I think it was a lesson in democracy yesterday", but insisted that he would not let up on the fight against inflation.
Meanwhile the government's situation in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
was increasingly difficult. It had lost its majority in 1976 and had been forced to put together a pact with the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
in 1977 in order to keep winning votes, but this pact had lapsed in July 1978. The decision to grant extra Parliamentary seats to Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
ensured temporary support from the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
, but the Unionists were clear that this support would be withdrawn immediately after the Bill to grant extra seats had been passed. It was through the Ulster Unionists agreeing to abstain that the government defeated a motion of no confidence by 312 to 300 on 9 November.
Further negotiation at the TUC
By the middle of November it was clear that Ford would offer an increase substantially over the 5% limit and the government entered into intense negotiation with the TUC, hoping to produce an agreement on pay policy that would prevent disputes and show political unity in the run-up to the general election. A limited and weak formula was eventually worked out and put to the General Council of the TUC on 14 November, but the General Council ended up tied 14–14 on its adoption and it was rejected on the Chair's casting vote. One important personality on the TUC General Council had changed earlier in 1978 with Moss EvansMoss Evans
Arthur Mostyn Evans , better known as Moss Evans, was the general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union , then the largest general trade union in the United Kingdom, from 1978 until 1985....
replacing Jack Jones
Jack Jones (trade union leader)
James Larkin Jones, CH, MBE , known as Jack Jones, was a British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.-Early life:...
at the TGWU. Evans proved a weak leader of his union although it is doubtful whether Jones could have restrained the actions of some of the TGWU shop stewards.
After Ford settled, the government wasted no time and on 28 November announced that sanctions would be imposed on them, along with 220 other companies, for breach of the pay policy. The announcement of actual sanctions produced an immediate protest from the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
which announced that it would challenge their legality. The Conservatives also put down a motion in the House of Commons to revoke the sanctions. A co-ordinated protest by left-wing Labour MPs over spending on defence forced the debate on 7 December to be postponed, but when it went ahead on 13 December, an amendment against the sanctions was passed by 285 to 279. The substantive motion as amended was then passed by 285 to 283. James Callaghan put down a motion of confidence for the next day, which the government won by 10 votes (300 to 290), but accepted that it could not use sanctions. In effect this deprived the government of any means of enforcing the 5% limit on private industry.
Lorry drivers
With effectively no means of enforcing the pay policy, unions which had not yet put in pay claims began to increase their aim. The first to take extreme action were lorryTruck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
drivers, members of the TGWU. Large numbers of the lorry drivers worked on oil tankers, and drivers working for BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
and Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
began an overtime ban in support of rises of up to 40% on 18 December. With supplies of oil being disrupted, the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
prepared 'Operation Drumstick', by which the Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
were put on standby to take over from the tanker drivers. However, the Operation would need the declaration of a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in order to allow conscription of the assets of the oil companies, and the government drew back from such a step. Before the situation developed into a crisis the oil companies settled on wage rises of around 15%.
From 3 January 1979 an unofficial strike of all TGWU lorry drivers began. With petrol distribution held up, petrol stations closed across the country. The strikers also picketed the main ports. The strikes were made official on 11 January by the TGWU and 12 January by the United Road Transport Union. With 80% of the nation's goods transported by road, essential supplies were put in danger as striking drivers picketed those firms that continued to work. While the oil tanker drivers were working, the main refineries were also targeted and the tanker drivers let the strikers know where they were going, allowing for flying pickets to turn them back at their destination. More than 1,000,000 workers were laid off temporarily during the disputes.
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
did not allow the correct mix of animal feed through to local farms, the farmers dropped the bodies of dead piglets and chickens outside the union offices; the union contended that the farmer had actually wrung the chicken's necks to kill them, and the piglets had been killed when the sow rolled over and crushed them.
On 29 January, lorry drivers in the south west accepted a deal awarded by an arbitration panel of a rise of up to 20%, just £1 per week less than the union had been striking for; this settlement proved a model which was accepted throughout the country.
'Crisis? What crisis?'
On 10 January, James Callaghan arrived back from a summit in GuadeloupeGuadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
in the middle of the lorry drivers' strike. Having been tipped off that the press were present, his press secretary Tom McCaffrey advised him to say nothing and return immediately to work, but his political adviser Tom McNally
Thomas McNally, Baron McNally
Tom McNally, Baron McNally, PC is a British politician and the current Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords and a Minister of State for Justice.-Early life:...
thought that the image of Callaghan returning and declaring his intent to take control of the situation would be reassuring. Callaghan therefore decided to give a press conference at Heathrow airport. To McNally's dismay Callaghan was jocular and referred to having had a swim in the Caribbean during the summit. He was then asked (by a reporter from the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
) "What is your general approach, in view of the mounting chaos in the country at the moment?" and replied:
- "Well, that's a judgment that you are making. I promise you that if you look at it from outside, and perhaps you're taking rather a parochial view at the moment, I don't think that other people in the world would share the view that there is mounting chaos."
The next day's edition of The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
featured the famous headline "Crisis? What crisis?" with a subheading "Rail, lorry, jobs chaos—and Jim blames Press", condemning Callaghan as being "out of touch" with British society.
Public Sector employees
With many in the private sector having achieved substantial rises, the public sector unions became increasingly concerned to keep pace in terms of pay, especially for those paid lowest. The government had already announced a slight weakening of the policy on 16 January, which gave the unions cause for hope that they might win. Train drivers of ASLEF and the National Union of RailwaymenNational Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...
had already begun a series of 24-hour strikes, and the Royal College of Nursing
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing is a union membership organisation with over 395,000 members in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1916, receiving its Royal Charter in 1928, Queen Elizabeth II is the patron...
conference on 18 January decided to ask that the pay of nurses be increased to the same comparative level as 1974, which would mean a 25% average rise. On 22 January the public sector unions held a "Day of Action", in which they held a 24-hour strike and marched to demand a £60 per week minimum wage. This was the biggest individual day of strike action since the general strike of 1926, and many workers stayed out indefinitely after that day.
With the succession of strikes having been called and then won, many groups of workers began to take unofficial action – often without the consent or support of the union leaderships. Ambulance drivers began to take strike action in mid-January, and in parts of the country (London, West Midlands, Cardiff, Glasgow and the west of Scotland) their action included refusing to attend 999 emergency calls. In these areas, the Army was drafted in to provide a skeleton service. Ancillary hospital staff also came out on strike. On 30 January, the Secretary of State for Social Services
Secretary of State for Social Services
The Secretary of State for Social Services was a position in the UK cabinet, created on 1 November 1968 with responsibility for the Department of Health and Social Security...
David Ennals announced that 1,100 of 2,300 National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
hospitals were only treating emergencies, that practically no ambulance service was operating normally, and that the ancillary health service workers were deciding which cases merited treatment. The Press made great play from reports that cancer patients were being prevented from getting essential treatment.
Burying the Dead
The most notorious action during the winter was the unofficial strike by gravediggers, members of the GMWU, working in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
. As coffins piled up, Liverpool City Council hired a factory in Speke
Speke
Speke is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, close to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley. It is south east of the city centre and to the west of the town of Widnes....
to store them. On 1 February a persistent journalist asked the Medical Officer of Health for Liverpool, Dr Duncan Dolton, what would be done if the strike continued for months, Dolton speculated that burial at sea
Burial at sea
Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat. It is regularly performed by navies, but also can be done by private citizens in many countries.-By religion:...
would be considered. Although his response was hypothetical, in the circumstances it caused great alarm. The gravediggers eventually settled for a 14% rise after a fortnight's strike.
Waste Collectors
With many collectors having been on strike since 22 January, local authorities began to run out of space for storing waste and used local parks under their control. Westminster City CouncilWestminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...
used Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
in the heart of London's West End for piles of rubbish, and as the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
noted, this attracted rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s.
On 21 February, a settlement of the local authority workers' dispute was agreed, whereby workers got an 11% rise, plus £1 per week, with the possibility of extra rises, should a pay comparability study recommend them. Some left-wing local authorities, among them the London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
, conceded the union demands in full (known as the 'Camden surplus') and then saw an investigation by the District Auditor, which eventually ruled it a breach of fiduciary duty and therefore illegal. Camden Borough councillors, among them Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, avoided surcharge of the costs of their illegal policy. Livingstone was Leader of the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
by the time the surcharge decision was made.
The International Monetary Fund
Prior to the "Winter of Discontent", the Callaghan government had sought (in 1976) an International Monetary FundInternational Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
loan of £2.3bn to combat the rampant inflation at that time. This was perceived as a humiliation for a former imperial power and the nadir of the post-war economic decline, helping to pave the way for Margaret Thatcher's 1979 General Election victory.
Political developments
Strikes by essential services dismayed many senior ministers in the Labour government who had been close to the trade union movement, who thought it unlikely that trade unionists would take such action. Among these was Prime Minister James Callaghan himself, who had built his political career on his connection to the trade union, and had practically founded one union (the Inland Revenue Staff FederationInland Revenue Staff Federation
-History:The Union was born in the late 19th Century, when a group of tax clerks met together to fight for higher pay, higher status and better conditions. At that time clerks were hired by surveyors of taxes, they were usually employed on a temporary basis, paid low wages and denied sick leave,...
) himself. In 1969 Callaghan had led a cabinet revolt which led to the abandonment of a proposed reform of trade union law outlined in a white paper called 'In Place of Strife
In Place of Strife
In Place of Strife was a UK Government white paper written in 1969. It was a proposed act to alter the functionality of trade unions in the United Kingdom, but was never passed into law....
'; had this reform been implemented, most of the action during the Winter of Discontent would have been illegal.
The government continued to negotiate with the senior union leaders and on 11 February came to agreement on a proposal to be put to the TUC General Council. On 14 February the General Council agreed the concordat, which was published under the title 'The Economy, the Government, and Trade Union Responsibilities' (the significance of Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
was remarked upon by the press). By this stage the degree of control which the union executives had over their members was limited and strikes did not immediately cease, although they began to wind down from this point. In total in 1979, 29,474,000 working days were lost in industrial disputes, compared with 9,306,000 in 1978.
Political impact
The strikes appeared to have a profound effect on voting intention. According to GallupThe Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization, is primarily a research-based performance-management consulting company. Some of Gallup's key practice areas are - Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement and Well-Being. Gallup has over 40 offices in 27 countries. World headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Operational...
, Labour had a lead of 5% over the Conservatives in November 1978, which turned to a Conservative lead of 7.5% in January 1979, and of 20% in February. On 1 March, referendums on devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
to Scotland and Wales were held. That in Wales went strongly against devolution; that in Scotland produced a small majority in favour which did not reach the threshold set by Parliament of 40% of the electorate. The government's decision not to press ahead with devolution immediately led the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
to withdraw support from the government and on 28 March in a motion of no confidence the government lost by one vote
1979 vote of no confidence against the government of James Callaghan
The 1979 vote of no confidence in the government of James Callaghan was a vote of no confidence in the British Labour Government of James Callaghan which occurred on 28 March 1979. The vote was brought by opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and was lost by the Labour Government by one vote ,...
, precipitating a general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
.
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
had already outlined her proposals for restricting trade union power in a party political broadcast
Party political broadcast
A party political broadcast is a short television or radio broadcast made by a political party....
on 17 January in the middle of the lorry drivers' strike. During the election campaign the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
made extensive use of the disruption caused during the strike. One broadcast on 23 April began with the Sun's headline "Crisis? What Crisis?" being shown and read out by an increasingly desperate voiceover interspersed with film footage of piles of rubbish, closed factories, picketed hospitals and locked graveyards. The scale of the Conservatives' victory in the general election has often been ascribed to the effect of the strikes, and the party used film of the events of the winter in election campaigns for years to come.
Following Mrs Thatcher's election win, she brought the post-war consensus
Post-war consensus
The post-war consensus is a name given by historians to an era in British political history which lasted from the end of World War II in 1945 to the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979....
to an end and made drastic changes to trade union laws (most notably the regulation that unions had to hold a ballot among members before calling strikes) and as a result strikes were at their lowest level for 30 years by the time of the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, which the Tories won by a landslide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7noHkLaZ5VI
External links
- Labour faces vote of confidence (BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
On this day, 14 December 1978) - 'No chaos here' declares Callaghan (BBC On this day, 10 January 1979)
- Public sector strike paralyses country (BBC On this day, 22 January 1979)
See also
- Three-Day WeekThree-Day WeekThe Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970–1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners...
, the Conservative government's reaction to a wave of earlier strikes, in 1974, that had a similarly disastrous impact on the government's popularity.