Catalogue Number
NMLH.1993.468
Object Name
Arm band
Title
'U.P.W. Picket'
Place
London
People
Union of Post Office Workers (UPW)
Events
1971 Post Office Strike
Description
A white arm band with streaked black text saying 'UPW Picket'.
This arm band was used at a picket during the 1971 postal strike. Members of the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) went on strike on 20 January 1971 over pay. The strike lasted until 8 March 1971, making it the longest postal strike since 1926.The strike came about in the first year where the Post Office had corporation status, meaning it had to become a financially competitive business without Government support. Before this, the Government had been directly involved in setting policy and pay of the Post Office. UPW workers were offered an 8% pay rise, which was rejected by the union who wanted 15% and an end to age based pay scales, which disadvantaged young post office workers. At the end of the strike, the workers received a 9% pay rise and other demands such as limiting the amount of overtime required of workers and removal of age based pay were agreed on and gradually met.
At this time, the Post Office not only held a legally enforced monopoly on letter and parcel delivery, but they were also the main provider of communication networks in the UK. A strike impacted not just letters and parcels being sent, but also telephone lines, and the payment of welfare benefits like pensions and family allowance which could only be collected at post office counters. The Post Office attempted to capitalise on this disruption to turn public opinion against strikers, and the UPW responded by placing adverts with the stories of named individual staff members explaining what they did, and how much they got paid, asking "The postman has always done his best for you, through fair weather and foul. Will you do the same for him?"
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