Grunwick dispute

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The Grunwick dispute was a British industrial dispute involving trade union recognition at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories in Chapter Road, Dollis Hill in the London suburb of Willesden, that led to a two-year strike between 1976 and 1978.[1]

During a decade of industrial unrest, the Grunwick dispute became a

Metropolitan Police's Special Patrol Group.[7] Grunwick was the first time that this police unit had been deployed in an industrial dispute.[8][9] The mostly female, immigrant, East African Asian strikers – dubbed "strikers in saris" by the news media – were led by Jayaben Desai, whose membership of the union was later suspended[failed verification] following her hunger strike outside the Trades Union Congress (TUC) headquarters in November 1977.[10] This was also the first dispute where the majority of strikers were from an ethnic minority and still received widespread support from the labour movement – previous disputes involving immigrant workers which had taken place in Leicester and Southall had "remained marginalised" and had even led to "open and ugly racism on the part of white union members and their leaders".[11][12][13]

The incumbent Labour government commissioned the Scarman Inquiry, chaired by Lord Scarman, which recommended both union recognition and re-instatement of the workers, but the employer, backed by the right-wing National Association For Freedom (NAFF) and the Conservative Party, rejected the recommendations. The TUC subsequently withdrew their support and the workers' strike committee announced the end of the dispute in June 1978. The repercussions of the strike for British industrial relations were far-reaching, significantly weakening the British trades union movement. The Conservative Party and other members of the right wing saw this as a major political and ideological victory, preparing the ground for Conservative success in the 1979 general election and their subsequent curbing of the unions' power in the 1980s.[8]

Background

Grunwick Film Processing Laboratories was a photographic finishing and processing business, trading under a variety of brand names including Bonusprint, Doubleprint and Tripleprint, founded in 1965 by George Ward, John Hickey and Tony Grundy.[14] At the time of the dispute, the firm operated on a postal basis, in which customers mailed undeveloped films and payment to the laboratory and received finished photographs back through the postal service. The growth of amateur colour photography meant that small High Street chemists which had previously serviced this market "could no longer afford the equipment to develop family snapshots, and the photo-processing field was left wide open for larger, specialist companies" such as Grunwick.[15] In 1973, there had been a previous dispute over union recognition at Grunwick, and a number of workers who joined the

Laurence Pavitt, said that in his dealings with the company over "many years" prior to the dispute, the management had been rude and intransigent, failing to respond to his letters, and treated the workers in a "deplorable fashion."[18]

MP

Socialist Workers Party alleging that Grunwick was a "racist" employer was also later withdrawn as "completely untrue and unfair".[21]
In fact, George Ward was of Anglo-Indian extraction born in New Delhi in 1933, the son of a wealthy accountant.

Although there were allegations that the working conditions at Grunwick resembled those of a

air-conditioning at the premises was not then in operation, and no allowance was made for this in terms of the employees' productivity.[15]

Strike

Dismissals

The strike was sparked by the dismissal of Devshi Bhudia, at the firm's Chapter Road premises, on Friday 20 August 1976 for working too slowly. Three others, Chandrakant Patel, Bharat Patel and Suresh Ruparelia, walked out in support of him. At 6:55 pm Jayaben Desai put on her coat to leave and was called into the office, where she was dismissed for doing so.

Citizens Advice Bureau to contact a trade union to represent them. They were then advised by the TUC to contact APEX, the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff, described by Shirley Williams, who was at the time sponsored by APEX, as "famous throughout the trade union movement as the most determinedly moderate and fundamentally anti-communist union of them all."[6]: 5:31  Others called it the "least dynamic and most right-wing of trade unions", and pointed out that as a "white-collar" union it was not well-disposed to draw upon support from its members, often "isolated groups of workers" employed in small offices.[15]

ACAS involvement

Having signed up as members of APEX, the pickets returned to Grunwick where 50 more workers walked out demanding the right to join the union. The pickets also headed to Grunwick's nearby Cobbold Road premises where a further 25 workers walked out and joined the strike.[1] According to APEX's subsequent testimony at the Scarman Inquiry, their grievance with the company consisted of "low pay, long hours with compulsory overtime, petty restrictions imposed on working people, a bullying attitude on the part of supervision, and frequent dismissals and threats of dismissals," leading to "the expressed intention of bringing in trade union representation."[6]: 7:33  On 24 August 1976 Grunwick made an offer to reinstate all striking employees if they dropped their demand for union representation, which was rejected. On 2 September 1976 all 137 striking workers were dismissed from the company's employ. In the intervening period, APEX had declared the strike "official" and sought a meeting with Grunwick management, as did, informally, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). The company refused to meet with APEX or ACAS.[3] On 5 September 1976 the general secretary of APEX, Roy Grantham, requested that the Secretary of State for Employment, Albert Booth, establish a court of inquiry into the dispute. On 7 September Grantham addressed the TUC's Annual Congress regarding the Grunwick dispute. As a result, on 7 October 1976 Len Murray, General Secretary of the TUC, requested trade unions give "all possible assistance" to the strikers, including "boycotting Grunwick's services."[1][15] Acting on the advice of Albert Booth, on 15 October 1976 APEX formally requested ACAS to take up the case under section 11 of the Employment Protection Act 1975 (c.71).[15][18]

Union of Post Office Workers' boycott

When the strike began, members of the

John Gorst, who called for an emergency debate about the matter in the House of Commons. Backed by Gorst and NAFF, Ward threatened to take legal action against the UPW in the High Court, claiming the actions of its members was in direct contradiction to the provisions of section 58 of the Post Office Act 1953, which said that any officer of the Post Office who "wilfully fails to handle mail" would be guilty of a misdemeanour.[18] Tom Jackson, the General Secretary of the UPW, responded that "The Post Office Act was written many years ago and it has never been tested in relation to sympathetic industrial action. Until it is, as far as our union is concerned, we are going to support these workers who are being badly treated by a nineteenth-century employer."[25] The Act was not considered by observers to be as effective as Ward and Gorst believed, and had not been used by the Conservative government during the seven-week-long national Post Office strike in 1971.[26] On 4 November Ward agreed to meet ACAS in return for UPW calling off its boycott, and following talks between APEX and UPW Grunwick staff were once more allowed to collect mail from the sorting office.[27] Ward still applied for an ex parte injunction against both the Post Office and the UPW on 5 November, which was refused by Mr. Justice Chapman in the High Court.[17][28] Usually, a party moves ex parte to prevent an adversary from having notice of their intentions. At a second inter partes hearing before Mr. Justice Slynn on 9 November, the firm consented to the dismissal of its application for an injunction.[28]

Definition of "worker"

ACAS were empowered by section 11 of the Employment Protection Act (EPA) to "ascertain the opinions of workers to whom the issue relates", but Grunwick, backed by NAFF, disputed that the strikers should be included, on the grounds that they had been dismissed and so were no longer "workers" of the company.[29] John Stacey, Grunwick's personnel manager, said "The truth is that we do not care what their opinions are."[29] In the meantime, the company awarded a 15% pay rise to non-striking workers on the understanding that they would not join the union.[1][29] In response, UPW said it would consider resuming its boycott of Grunwick if the firm would not co-operate with ACAS.[30] Harold Walker, the Minister of State for Employment, also urged Grunwick to co-operate with ACAS to end the dispute and criticised the involvement of NAFF, saying that this was not the first time that this "ultra right wing political organisation [had] sought to interfere in industrial disputes, with harmful consequences."[31] Grunwick would not turn over the names and addresses of those still working to ACAS, or allow them access to the workers, saying that it would only do so if their opinions were canvassed while those of the strikers were not taken into consideration. The company explained "We are bound by the opinion of the loyal workers inside our company" and would not heed those of the strikers "outside".[32] The draft report prepared by ACAS, who had been unable to canvass all of the workers, recommended recognition of APEX by Grunwick for negotiation purposes.[33] Grunwick responded to the draft by seeking legal advice to challenge the recommendation, centred on the definition of "worker".[32] The union maintained that if Grunwick's submission was proved in law, it would render the employment provisions of the EPA meaningless and create a legal loophole whereby employers could "dismiss with impunity workers who asked for recognition."[34]

On 18 April 1977 the company served a writ on ACAS, claiming that it had exceeded its authority by canvassing the opinions of the strikers

Court of Appeal.[36]

The appeal was heard by the

Lord Denning, Lord Justice Browne and Lord Justice Geoffrey Lane on 29 July 1977. While Lord Justices Browne and Lane disagreed with Lord Denning's decision that strikers were not "workers", all three were in agreement that the failure of ACAS to canvass all of the employees, even though it was through no fault of their own, rendered the report invalid and as such it was declared void.[37] While accepting that ACAS had made all the efforts that it could to ascertain the opinions of the workers inside Grunwick, the failure to do so meant that it had "not complied with the conditions and safeguards of section 14 of the Act."[38] ACAS said that it would appeal the decision, which had effectively made the Act unworkable where an employer refuses to co-operate.[38] The subsequent appeal was heard before Lords Diplock, Salmon, Edmund-Davies, Fraser and Keith, who dismissed it on 14 December 1977.[39]

Extension of picketing

By March 1977, picketing had also begun outside London chemists' shops in an effort to stop them doing business with Grunwick. Grunwick attempted to take out an injunction restraining pickets from demonstrating outside shops and handing out what the company alleged were "defamatory leaflets". In the High Court Mr Justice Gibson refused to grant the injunction, saying that he would not interfere with peaceful picketing in a trade dispute. The company was unable to provide evidence of violence by the pickets, and as the strike committee claimed that they could justify their allegations in a court of law the judge declined to restrain the distribution of leaflets.[40]

Mass pickets

The dispute, and the attendant media coverage, became far more heated for a few weeks in June and July 1977 when mass-pickets formed of trade unionists and supporters from across London tried to stop non-striking Grunwick workers from entering the workplace. Police responded with greater numbers and more aggressive tactics, and violence broke out on a number of occasions.

The local Brent Trades Council, led by its president, veteran construction union activist and Communist Party industrial organiser Tom Durkin, and its secretary, TGWU activist

Morning Star, the Socialist Workers' Party
and various political groups inside the Labour Party). The 22 June event became a national demonstration of solidarity with the Grunwick strikers.

On 22 June delegations from trades councils, several constituency Labour parties and a great many trade unions (including miners and print workers) attended the mass-picket. The attendance of the president of the Yorkshire area of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill, and a delegation of mineworkers from as far afield as Yorkshire, South Wales and Kent, was highlighted by the media. There were clashes between police and pickets (and a large number of arrests) when police tried to escort buses carrying non-striking employees into the Grunwick plant and bloody scenes between the police and the pickets were broadcast on television.

The Labour government decided to commission an inquiry under

Lord Scarman
and the pickets were called off in mid-July to wait for the result of the inquiry. APEX announced it would abide by the outcome of the inquiry but Ward did not, saying he would only submit to the normal courts.

Aftermath

The Scarman Inquiry recommended the reinstatement of the strikers, said that the management had acted "within the letter but outside the spirit of the law" and that union recognition could "help the company as well as the employees". Ward rejected the report, the strikers were not reinstated and the union was not recognised. A House of Lords ruling upheld Ward's right not to recognise a union. The strike's support from other unions "slipped away"[10] leaving the strikers to call off their action on 14 July 1978, nearly two years after it had begun. Their demands for collective bargaining were never met.[10]

A 2016 BBC radio documentary, Grunwick Changed Me, described how the involvement of white, working class men in support of Asian women strikers was seen as a turning point in race relations in the United Kingdom.[41]

Political involvement

Three ministers in the

Attorney General
refused to initiate any action against them and stopped anyone else from doing so. In August 1977 Sir
James Prior was the shadow Employment Secretary. The Tory Reform Group called Joseph "off his head" and Margaret Thatcher said his comments were "too sharp".[43][44]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Grunwick: Chronology of events". University of Leeds. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Your 1970s: Strikes and blackouts". BBC News. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Grunwick strike, 1976–1978". Working Class Movement Library. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  4. ISSN 0026-7961
    .
  5. Morning Star
    . London.
  6. ^ a b c d Produced/Directed: Deep Sehgal. Narrated: Veronika Hyks (January 2003). "Time Shift: The Grunwick Strike". Time Shift. Season 1. Episode 1. Bristol, England. BBC. BBC Four.
  7. ^ Travis, Alan (28 December 2007). "Callaghan had Scargill watched as Grunwick dispute escalated". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  8. ^ a b "The Grunwick Strike". BBC. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  9. Institute of Race Relations. Archived from the original
    on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  10. ^ a b c Manzoor, Sarfraz (20 January 2010). "How Asian women made trade union history and shattered stereotypes". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  11. ^ "The strike at Grunwicks 1976–1978 – 30 years on". Socialist Appeal. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  12. ^
    ISSN 1754-4653
    . Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  13. ^ Sivanandan, A. (1977). "Grunwick". Race & Class. 19 (1). Retrieved 6 September 2010. Reprinted at libcom.org.
  14. ^ "Obituaries: George Ward". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Forbes, Andy (December 1978). "In the Wake of Grunwick". Marxism Today: 386–391.
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-15289-1
    .
  17. ^ a b c d Symon, Penny (6 November 1976). "Firm's mail collected after union ends ban". The Times. No. 59854. London. p. 3.
  18. ^ a b c d "Concern about non-delivery of mail to mail order firm involved in industrial dispute". The Times. No. 59851. London. 3 November 1976. p. 6.
  19. ^ Rossiter, Ann (January 1977). "Risking Gossip and Disgrace: Asian Women Strike". Spare Rib (54): 18.
  20. ^ "Strikers in saris". The Guardian. London. 20 January 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  21. ^ "George Ward and Grunwick Apology". Socialist Worker. 12 August 2006. Archived from the original on 7 December 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  22. ISSN 1754-4653
    . Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  23. ^ Grantham, Roy (24 December 1976). "Union recognition". The Times. No. 59895. London. p. 13.
  24. ^ Brar, Harpal, ed. (July–August 2006). "'Old' Labour's betrayal of Grunwick". Lalkar. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  25. ^ a b Jones, Tim (3 November 1976). "MPs say postal delivery ban is illegal". The Times. No. 59851. London. p. 2.
  26. ^ "Postmen put themselves off side". The Times. No. 59852. London. 4 November 1976. p. 17.
  27. ^ Noyes, Hugh (5 November 1976). "Postal workers' union calls off ban on mail delivery to firm as Commons debates its action". The Times. No. 59853. London. p. 2.
  28. ^ a b Symon, Penny (10 November 1976). "Firm drops action over mail". The Times. No. 59857. London. p. 4.
  29. ^ a b c Thomas, Christopher (3 December 1976). "Company may bring test case to define 'worker'". The Times. No. 59877. London. p. 4.
  30. ^ Jones, Tim (13 December 1976). "Postmen may resume action against firm". The Times. No. 59885. London. p. 4.
  31. ^ "Plea to Grunwick to cooperate in inquiry". The Times. No. 59893. London. 22 December 1976. p. 6.
  32. ^ a b Thomas, Christopher (12 February 1977). "Company takes legal advice over union recognition". The Times. No. 59932. London. p. 3.
  33. ^ "Blow to hopes of peace at Grunwick". The Times. No. 59934. London. 15 February 1977. p. 4.
  34. ^ "TUC asked to help in union recognition battle". The Times. No. 59956. London. 19 March 1977. p. 2.
  35. ^ Jones, Tim (19 April 1977). "Strike-bound firm serves writ on Acas". The Times. No. 59981. London. p. 2.
  36. ^ a b c Godfrey, Peter (13 July 1977). "High court dismisses Grunwick claim against Acas report". The Times. No. 60054. London. p. 1.
  37. ^ "Court of Appeal Acas recommendation to recognize union declared void". The Times. No. 60069. London. 30 July 1977. p. 23.
  38. ^ a b Parker, Robert (2 August 1977). "Acas will appeal to Lords over Grunwick ruling". The Times. London. p. 1.
  39. ^ "Acas' inability to question stay-at-work employees renders report void". The Times. No. 60187. London. 15 December 1977. p. 20.
  40. ^ "Judge refuses injunction against shop pickets". The Times. No. 59950. London. 12 March 1977. p. 3.
  41. ^ "Grunwick Changed Me". Seriously... 17 August 2016. BBC Radio. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  42. ISBN 978-0-140-52325-6
    .
  43. ISBN 978-0-566-00268-7
    .
  44. ISBN 978-0-00-638753-4
    .

Further reading

DVD

  • Brent Trades Union Council, The Great Grunwick Strike 1976–1978 (Director Chris Thomas, 2007)

External links

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