On this day in 1978, one of the first strikes of the British "Winter of Discontent" began when 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), began an unofficial strike.

The Winter of Discontent took place during 1978-79 in the United Kingdom, characterized by widespread strikes from both private and public sector trade unions. Some of these industrial disputes caused great public inconvenience, exacerbated by the coldest winter in 16 years in which severe storms isolated many remote areas of the country.

On September 22nd, 1978, one of the first strikes of the "Winter of Discontent" began when 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), began an unofficial strike.

The number of participants later grew to 57,000. As the months progressed, workers from multiple industries went on strike, including lorry drivers, garbage collectors, and gravediggers. It was the largest UK labor stoppage since 1926.

The Winter was a disaster for the incumbent Labour Party. The magazine Socialist Worker quoted one council worker as saying "We had to strike because Labour betrayed us".

The Labour Party was swept out of power in the 1979 election, leading to the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

Winter of Discontent 1978-9: ‘We struck because Labour betrayed us’ Socialist worker uk :long-corbyn:

Winter of Discontent wikipedia :ukkk:

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  • DoghouseCharlie [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    USPS wouldn't deliver my GPU because I wasn't there to sign for it. Okay, fair enough I guess, but I work six days a week so how am I supposed to be there to sign for it? Okay so I schedule a redelivery to my work, my coworker gets all his packages there. It doesn't show up and I don't get any followup. I can't re-reschedule because the first reschedule is still in the system even though it says "expired". And I can't drive to the Post Office to get it myself because I don't have a car. First world problems but come the heck on, USPS.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Two years in Biden and company are still letting DeJoy rip the USPS's guts out. They could stop him at any time, but destroying the USPS has always been a bipartisan project.