Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.11.2
Object Name
leaflet
Title
'Grunwick Strike Committee (APEX and TGWU) Mass Picket. The Day of Reckoning. Monday 7th November'
Place
Chapter Road, Dollis Hill, Willesden, London, UK
People
Jayben Desai, Grunwick Strike Committee, APEX, Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU)
Events
Grunwick Strike
Description
A black and white leaflet with text. Headline text reads: 'Grunwick Strike Committee (APEX and TGWU) Mass Picket. The Day of Reckoning. Monday 7th November'.
This flier advertises a mass protest in support for the Grunwick strikers. It urges protesters to demand essential services are cut off from the Grunwick film processing plant in an attempt to force the owner, George Ward, to recognise the unionisation of his workers and reinstate the workers he sacked for going on strike after he refused to recognise the union.
The Grunwick Strike was a two year dispute between 1976-1978. The Grunwick workers were mainly young Asian women, and some speculate Ward intentionally hired from this community in an attempt to exploit them more easily, assuming migrant women would not know their rights as workers and would not unionise. Ward was accused of racist pay conditions, paying white workers more for the same jobs.
The strikers were led by Jayben Desai, who led pickets and was repeatedly subjected to violence and arrest while participating on the picket line. She also faced off against union leadership when she felt they were undermining the strikers' cause. While the strike ultimately was not successful, and courts ruled Ward did not have to recognise the unionisation, Grunwick changed unions perceptions of global majority workers - prior to this, accepted wisdom in British unions was that Black and Asian workers were hard to unionise and wouldn't participate in strike actions. Grunwick shattered that myth and the leadership of Jayben Desai is still widely remembered today.
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