Catalogue Number
NBS I/D 232
Object Name
banner
Title
GRUNWICK STRIKE COMMITTEE - APEX - WE DEMAND UNION RECOGNITION - UNITE AND OVERCOME.
Place
Willesden & London & England & UK
People
workers: print workers
Date
1976
Creator(s)
NBS National Museum of Labour HistoryNBS National Museum of Labour History
Description
The Grunwick Strike lasted from August 1976 until July 1978. Workers at the Grunwick Film Processing Plant in Willesden, North London, walked out on in a dispute over appaling working conditions, including compulsory overtime, harsh management, a lack of union recognition and poor pay. Workers at Grunwick were paid just £28 per week, while the national industrial average was £76 per week.
The strikers were mostly Ugandan Asian women, who had largely immigrated to the UK after the expulsian of the Asian minority from Uganda in 1972. In Uganda, many had been well-off civil servants, but found that their situation in the UK was reduced. Many women took up work in places like the Grunwick plant to supplement their income.
The strike gained huge support among trade unionists, and thousands joined the picket line in what were known as "mass pickets". The Postal Workers Union even boycotted the Grunwick Plant and refused to deliver its post. Despite the widespread support, the strikers were unable to break the Grunwick managerment and the strike eventually lost support of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and had to be abandoned in 1978.
Despite this, the Grunwick Strike is largely considered a turning point in race relations among trade unionists, due to the large scale support from white working class men for the largely immigrant workforce at Grunwick.
The banner bears the initials of the Association of Professional, Executive Clerical and Computer Staffs one of the unions involved in the dispute.
Materials: Unbleached cotton ground with design and lettering in matt and semi gloss acrylics.
Multimedia
