The Wapping Dispute
St Bride Foundation
Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8EQ
9 January – 13 February 2015
Friday – Monday 10am – 5.30pm; Tuesday – Thursday by appointment.
Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers stand accused of debasing the British media. Revelations of industrial-scale
phone hacking at the News of the World and corruption of the police and national politics have laid bare the
malign influence and power of a global media empire.
That power was accumulated over 30 years but the crucial episode was the year-long Wapping dispute.
When negotiations broke down and the strike began in January 1986, Murdoch shifted production of
the papers overnight to a new, non-union printworks, sacking the existing production and administration
workforce of 5,500 employees.
Supported by the Tory government and its anti-union laws, Murdoch’s vast resources had enabled the
company to equip and staff the Docklands plant in secret, with strike-breaking labour recruited by the
electricians’ union in an act of treachery unparalleled in labour movement history.
The High Court ordered the sequestration of the funds of SOGAT, the largest union involved, when distribution
workers in London refused to handle Murdoch’s papers. Other unions were ordered by the courts to refrain
from solidarity action and fined for contempt.
More than 1,400 strikers and supporters were arrested, six were jailed and hundreds injured during
demonstrations and picketing. Complaints of police brutality and unwarranted arrests led to an inquiry that
described police actions as violent and undisciplined.
For the first time since the dispute ended in early 1987, the story is being told from the point of view of the
sacked workers and their trade unions. The Exhibition and the booklet “The Workers’ Story” offer graphic
accounts of the determined resistance of the sacked printworkers and the “refusenik” journalists who
joined them.
Visitors are advised to telephone in advance if a weekday visit is planned. The Layton Room has occasional functions which preclude viewing the exhibition.
Join us on January 20 for the related talk with Greg Neale and Nicholas Jones @ 7pm
Tickets £10 or £5 concessions. Book online
Telephone: 0207 353 3331
0207 353 3331