50 years on, the Grunwick strike is still important

 

Grunwick Factories Strike Mural by Anna Ferrie and the Community, Chapter Road, Willesden*

Pete Firmin explores the ongoing significance of a dispute that began fifty years ago this week. First published by Labour Hub. Reproduced with the permission of the author and publisher.

 

2026 is an important year for the commemoration of significant British class struggles. As well as marking the General Strike of 1926, it is 50 years since the start of the Grunwick strike in NW London.

 

But why did a strike of a few hundred workers at a small firm in Dollis Hill have national importance? Why was it frequently an item on the national television news? Why did it see more arrests in an industrial dispute than at any time since the General Strike of 1926?

 

The Grunwick strike was extraordinary because the strike of mainly women of South Asian heritage received widespread support from the trade union movement. Previous strikes by migrant workers, such as at Imperial Typewriters in Leicester and Mansfield Hosiery in Loughborough got no such support but rather the hostility of other workers and little support from the wider movement.

 

Grunwick was a photographic processing firm in Dollis Hill. In the days before smart phones, cameras contained reels of film which had to be sent away to be turned into photos after taking the pictures, and these were then sent back.

 

Working conditions were dire, overtime was compulsory and often without warning. Pay was lower than the London average.. 

 

There was an attempt in 1973 to unionise Grunwick workers but it failed when they were sacked.

 

On 20th August 1976, Devshi Bhudia was sacked and three other young men walked out in protest. Jayaben Desai and her son Sunil walked out in protest at this unacceptable treatment by management. Within days other workers joined the picket line. The strikers were advised by the TUC to join APEX, the Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff which declared the strike official.

 

From the start, the strikers had the support of Brent Trades Council, whose headquarters were close to the factory. That building became the strike HQ, and it was there a strike committee was first elected on 24th August.

 

The strikers faced the extreme hostility of Grunwick’s management throughout. They offered to take the strikers back if they dropped the demand for union recognition. When the strikers rejected this, the company sacked them on 1st September. ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, offered to mediate: management refused.

 

George Ward, the Anglo-Indian owner of Grunwick, got important support from the National Association For Freedom (NAFF, now the Freedom Association),  founded in 1975, and gained public prominence through its anti-trade union campaigns. John Gorst, Tory MP for Hendon North, a pre-Thatcher Thatcherite, also assisted Ward alongside NAFF.

 

The first demonstration in support of the strikers took place on 10th September, and on the same day Jayaben Desai and another woman were injured by a management car.. Arrests of pickets began in the same month.

 

In October 1976, APEX referred the dispute to ACAS; however, Grunwick management refused ACAS access to those still working (many of whom were said to favour unionisation). ACAS recommended union recognition, but Grunwick refused.

 

At the start of November postal workers refused to deliver Grunwick mail, a crucial part of their operation, After court action, the postal workers backed down.

 

From March 1977, picketing was stepped up and got widespread support across the trade union movement. Strikers picketed the TUC General Council for the withdrawal of essential services (gas, electricity, telephone) to Grunwick, but this was refused, other unions arguing they would need to be indemnified against court action. At its conference, APEX, hardly a militant union, called for the cutting of supplies to Grunwick.

 

In mid-June a week of action began with a mass picket and 84 arrests in one day. More Grunwick workers came out on strike and Cricklewood postal workers began an unofficial boycott of Grunwick mail. As mass pickets reached 1,500, printers at the Sunday Telegraph refused to print an article critical of the strike. Labour MP Audrey Wise and Yorkshire miners’ leader Arthur Scargill were arrested on the picket line. Busloads of miners had come to support the picket from around the country.

 

At the end of June, Labour Home Secretary Merlyn Rees praised the police on a visit to the picket line. This was despite widespread support in the Labour Party, both locally and up to the National Executive Committee, for the strike.

 

In July ’77, the postal workers were suspended, which meant no postal deliveries at all in the London NW2 area. The postal workers’ action was called off at the end of the month only after they were instructed to do so by their union leadership and fined by the union for initially disobeying.

 

During the postal blockage, NAFF ran `Operation Pony Express’ to get mail from and to Grunwick out..

 

On 11^th July a mass picket and demonstration were supported by 20,000.

 

Recourse to the law had mixed results for the strikers. A court of enquiry under Lord Scarman was set up at the end of June ‘77, and called in August for union recognition and reinstatement of the strikers. In mid-July the High Court supported the ACAS report calling for recognition, but at the end of July the Appeal Court overturned the High Court decision and declared the ACAS report invalid. In December, the House of Lords, at the time Britain’s highest judicial body, confirmed the decision against ACAS. Throughout, when decisions went against them, Grunwick refused to comply.

 

Mass pickets of up to 3,000 continued, but at the end of September Roy Grantham, APEX General Secretary, attacked the call for a resumption of mass pickets, and the strike committee were threatened with disciplinary action if they supported them.

 

Despite this, further mass pickets took place in October and November. On 7^th November there were 113 arrests and 243 pickets were injured.

 

On 21^st November ’77, strikers held a hunger strike outside the TUC HQ calling for support.

With Grunwick management adamant they would not allow recognition, the law apparently against them, and a lack of official union support, the strike committee announced the end of the strike on 14^th July 1978.

 

The timeline alone does not give the full flavour of the dispute: the resilience of the strikers, the magnificent solidarity shown by the wider movement, up against police brutality and the obstinacy of a company determined to deny its workers their basic rights, backed up by a ruling class determined to beat down the workers’ movement.

 

When Thatcher came to power in 1979, she quickly moved to restrict the rights of unions even further, something our leaders have refused to seriously challenge over the intervening decades.

 

The Grunwick strike showed the immense ability of workers to resist and the power of solidarity across sectoral and, importantly, racial divides. But it also showed how when it comes to the crunch, we can’t rarely rely on our union leaders – or the law – to back us in that fight. We have to be prepared to fight on – and break the law – when they refuse.

 

Learning more:

 

There are a wealth of resources about the Grunwick strike available:

Books: 

Grunwick: The Workers’ Story, by Jack Dromey and Graham Taylor (Lawrence & Wishart).

Films:

The Great Grunwick Strike 1976-78, Brent Trades Union Council

The Year of the Beaver https://youtu.be/RBJZ9hkHmxo

This year, the 50th anniversary of the start of the strike, there are several commemorative exhibitions, including at the Working Class Museum and Library and at London Metropolitan University.

Over the weekend 17/18 October, Brent Trades Council is organising an event commemorating both the General Strike and the Grunwick Strike and discussing issues facing trades unionists today. For more details contact petefirmin@btinternet.com

 

Pete Firmin is Vice Chair of Brent Trades Council.

 

*Image: https://openverse.org/image/e51b2bd3-c06c-4bcd-9e01-1107f9cface3?q=grunwick+strike&p=2 “Grunwick Factories Strike Mural by Anna Ferrie and the Community, Chapter Road, Willesden” by Loz Flowers is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Brent's 'RESISTANCE HQ' - an exhibition and film telling the story of this historic building and its political, social and cultural importance

 

 

As well as the exhibition at Willesden Green Library a new film has been  produced by Platform Films exploring the heritage of the Willesden Trades Hall and London Apollo Club.

The film  RESISTANCE HQ will be shown for the first time  on Saturday June 6th at a special special screening at 375 High Road, Willesden.

This new film has been produced as part of the current project to revive the Willesden Trades Hall and London Apollo Club. It brings together archive footage and interviews with key people connected to both the club and the hall, to tell the story of a building of significant political, social and cultural importance.

Celebrate the heritage of this extraordinary building and the people connected to it. 

At present tickets are shown as sold out but a waiting list should be available. LINK

Arrival - 4pm

Film screening - 4.30-5.15pm

From 5.30-7pm - CELEBRATION EVENT. Stay to enjoy short speeches, find out even more about our special heritage at the pop-up exhbition and celebrate with us as this phase of a project to revive the site draws to close (with refreshments).

Produced by Platform Films

Music by Jon Klein

Archive material and historic information from Christine Coates

This film and the screening has been organised by the Willesden Trades Hall Charity with support from London Historic Buildings Trust.

This project has been funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

Accessibility - the Willesden Trades Hall and London Apollo Club is in an old building and there is no level access or disabled toilets. To find out more about accessibility at the site, please contact rosie@londonhistoricbuildings.org.uk.

Sarah Wooley (BAFU) to speak at Brent Tades Council AGM - Januay 21st 7pm online

 

Respond to the consultation on the future regeneration of Willesden Trades Hall and Apollo Club

 

The Willesden Trades Hall Charity is celebrating the launch of its inaugural project at the building, with a grant of £85,675 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and further match-funding from The Architectural Heritage Fund.

 

Over the next eight months, the Board of Trustees, comprised of local stakeholders, will commence the process of regenerating this historic building, via three key objectives. The board will be supported by heritage specialists, London Historic Buildings Trust, and award-winning architecture and design firm, Adjaye Associates to:

 

1.     Invigorate and communicate the historic significance and legacy of the building and appraise and address its material condition and needs.

2.     Facilitate the reopening of the ground floor (former London Apollo Club) for ‘meanwhile’ community use

3.     Identify a viable long-term future for the building that will benefit the diverse communities of Brent.

 

Project activities will include the delivery of a series of building investigations, community consultations and architectural services by Adjaye Associates; a pilot programme of cultural and heritage activities overseen by London Historic Buildings Trust; and actions to strengthen the governance and resilience of the new Charity on its journey towards the full repair and renovation of the building.

 

Alan Scott, Chair of Trustees said:

 

The Willesden Trades and Labour Hall is a building with great historical and cultural significance to Brent, London and the nation as an iconic home for the British Labour movement.  Since the early twentieth century the hall has played a crucial role in the political, economic and social history of the local area, and indeed the nation. The London Apollo Club, opened in 1969, was one of the first venues exclusively for Reggae and Afro-Caribbean culture in Europe and as such a historic community asset for that diaspora. We are now extremely excited to have the opportunity to re-invigorate this building’s legacy and imagine how it can migrate into the future.

 

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:

 

Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re delighted to support this important first step in the regeneration of the Willesden Trades Hall along with money from The Architectural Heritage Fund. It will look to shape a sustainable future for this much-loved community asset, bringing the Hall back into meaningful use and celebrating its heritage for generations to come. At the Heritage Fund, we believe in the power of heritage to bring people together and this project is a great example of this.

 

 LINK TO CONSULTATION

 

VIRTUAL TOUR AND MORE

 

ABOUT THE WILLESDEN TRADES HALL CHARITY

The Charity was launched in 2024 with the purpose of preserving and maintaining the Willesden Trades & Labour Hall and London Apollo Club as a site of architectural, historical and cultural interest and significance, and to benefit the residents of the London Borough of Brent.

 

The Willesden Trades Hall and the Labour movement, the arts and the London Apollo Club

The Willesden Trades Hall has in recent times fallen into disuse. The Willesden Trades Hall Charity owns the Hall and is the grateful recipient of resilience funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and the Architectural Heritage Fund so it can commence the reinvigoration of this legacy building for the twenty first century with the support of the London Historic Building Trust as Project Managers.

 

The Labour movement

From no 375 High Road trade unionists, the trades council and Labour movement activists have met and organised industrial action and campaigns for over 100 years: it has been the venue for significant advances in emancipation, particularly with respect to women’s workers’ rights as headquarters for actions from the National Federation of Women Workers in the early twentieth century. In 1924 Sylvia Pankhurst founded the Willesden Branch of the Communist Workers Movement at the Hall. In 1926 the Hall became the HQ of the General Strike. The General Strike was followed by the Hunger Marches in the 30s protesting high unemployment. Marchers were welcomed at the hall.

 

The 2-year Grunwick strike of the 1970’s for unionisation because of low pay and intimidating practices by the employers was organised by a group of mainly Asian women workers at the nearby Grunwick factory. Its strike committee met at the hall. The local trades council coordinated the level of solidarity the Grunwick strike achieved between women from minority ethnic backgrounds and the wider trade union movement.

In the 1980s it was the London base for the Kent Miners during the Miners’ Strike and followed by the Peoples March for Jobs in the 1980s. Local dinner ladies provided lunches for the marchers.

 

The Hall’s reputation for solidarity was international when Nelson Mandela visited the UK in 1962 and was invited to Brent. His intention was to speak at the Hall, but the attendance was overwhelming, and the event was moved to another venue.

 

The London Apollo Club, Reggae and the Afro-Caribbean Community

In 1969 the London Apollo Club was launched by Bob Marley on the ground floor of the building. Despite local resistance mainly due to racism the club became a treasured cultural and community venue for the local Afro -Caribbean community. It provided a space for activism and solidarity for the community (which continues at the Brent Black Music Co-operative next door) and welcomed legendary national and international reggae artists including John Holt, Elton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs. The London Apollo Club prevailed until the pandemic lockdown of 2020 but had sadly to close.

 

The Future

Following de-industrialisation in the 1980s, the weakening of the trade union movement and the retreat of collective bargaining, the Hall, its funding and its activities have slowly declined and the Willesden Trades and Labour Hall Society was deregistered in 2000.

The building itself has since been neglected and needs attention, some urgent. The Charity has been formed to seek solutions for the buildings’ future.  WTLH Services Ltd (by Guarantee) was awarded a first grant by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.  WTLH Services transferred ownership of the building to Willesden Trades Hall Charity which was formed in December 2024.

 

The new project, funded by the Heritage Fund and AHF, will pursue a broad community consultation to inform how to best care for the building’s legacy and ensure this legacy migrates into the future both as part of the Labour movement and as a cultural and music venue. The charity has the firm and broad intention of creating new spaces for the Labour movement, the community and the arts by facilitating education, history, practices of community care, a place to meet and the cultural and creative enterprise that reflects the diverse constituents of Brent.

 

LINK TO CONSULTATION

 

 

The Building

The Charity will be procuring an architect-led design team who can start the process of defining a practical and creative direction for the renovation and development of the building long term, that has an affinity with the area and its communities, and can bring a creative vision to bear onto the ethical, cultural ambitions of the Charity as they reflect the material legacy of the building and its historical activities.

                                           

ABOUT THE NATIONAL LOTTERY HERITAGE FUND

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past. 

 

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities. 

heritagefund.org.uk 

 

 

Now the NHS want to reduce the opening hours of the Central Middlesex Hospital Urgent Treatment Centre

2012: Candy Unwin of Keep Our NHS Public and John Lister warn of the impact of the closure of the A&E at Central Middlesex Hospital. Meeting chaired by Brent Trades Council LINK

You may wonder why I am posting the photograph above from 13 years ago here, well it marked the moment when the NHS began the run down of services at Central Middlsex Hospital (known to many locals as Park Royal).John Lister, who had been commissioned to write a report on NHS plans across the NW London area warned that closures of A&E departments could be the beginning of a process that would eventually lead to the  closure of local hospitals.

At the time much was made of the provision of an Urgent Care Centre at Central Middlesex that would offer treatment for less serious cases, while those needing A&E would go to Northwick Park Hospital, an awkward journey miles away.

We know now how busy Northwick Park A&E has become but the NHS are proposing to cut the hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre at Central Middlesex with the last patients being registered at 8pm rather than the current 11pm.

The proposalfrom London NW University Healthcare Trust, comes after the row over their closure of the hydrotherapy pool at Northwick Park, still not formally scrutinised by Brent Council Scrutiny Committee.  The lack of proper consultation was a major issue but the Trust admitted that consultation would not change their decision - it would only help shape their advice of alternatives.

The current consultation on a reduction in hours of the Central Middlesex Urgent Treatment Centre if of of the same ilk - it appears it would not change the actual hours reduction proposal.  LINK

Have your say on a proposed change to the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) opening hours at Central Middlesex Hospital

We are considering changing the opening hours of the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at Central Middlesex Hospital. The UTC currently opens between 8am and 12midnight, seven days per week, with the last patient registered at 11pm. 

Challenges with current opening hours

Radiology services (X-ray, ultrasound, etc) at Central Middlesex Hospital are not available after 8pm. This means many patients who attend after this time must visit another centre that evening or to return for care the following day. This is both inconvenient and causes delays to care. Furthermore, the service only sees an average of four patients per hour after 9pm. This may be because it is well known locally that the hospital does not have an A&E department, leading patients to attend elsewhere. Given low patient numbers and our limited workforce, allocating staff to radiology services after 8pm is not an efficient use of resources.

 Review findings and proposal

A recent review of our urgent care services found that many patients who visit our UTCs out of hours would be more appropriately seen in a primary care or pharmacy setting. We are therefore proposing new opening times of 8am to 9pm, with the last patient registered at 8pm. The UTC would continue to open seven days a week and provide the same services as now. 

Your views matter

We would like to hear your views on this proposed change. Your feedback will help us understand how the change might affect you, your family, or the people you care for. It will also guide us in making sure patients can still get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. All responses are anonymous, and your views will be shared with decision-makers to help shape the future of urgent care in your area.

 

Consultation Meetings  

• Thursday 23 October from 6pm to 7pm at Central Middlesex Hospital
• Friday 31 October from 12pm to 1pm at Central Middlesex Hospital

If you would like to attend either event, please register your attendance on EventBrite.

Online Quesionnaire 

 

Having failed dismally to hold the Trust to account on behalf of local residents over the hydrotherapy pool closure, will the Brent Council Scrutiny put this proposal on their agenda, urgently?

£46k grant to catalogue Brent Trades Council's decades of struggle for workers' rights and social justice

The Brent Trades Council banner at demonstration against privatisation of the NHS (Wembley Matters)

 

From Brent Council

 

Brent Museum and Archives (BMA) has been awarded £45,900.71 from The National Archives’ 'Archives Revealed' grant programme to catalogue a significant local archive collection – the Brent Trades Council collection.

Brent Museum and Archives, located in The Library at Willesden Green, preserves and showcases the history of the London Borough of Brent. It houses a vast collection of over 10,000 objects, including historical documents, photographs, and artifacts as well as council records, local newspapers, and more. 

With this funding, the museum will undertake a detailed cataloguing project of the Brent Trades Council (BTUC) archive, which documents the organisation’s involvement in a wide range of local and national campaigns and social justice issues from the 1960s through to 2013.

The Brent Trades Council is the community branch of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for the London Borough of Brent. It represents union members from organisations including UCU, RMT, GMB, CWU, Brent NEU, and various Unite branches, working in solidarity to champion workers’ rights and social activism.

The cataloguing project will deliver access to this vital collection, enabling local communities, schools, and researchers to explore Brent’s rich history of trade unionism and political activism. BMA will also use the BTUC’s archives to create greater engagement with the borough’s diverse communities and encourage conversations about Brent’s past and present identity.

Cllr Promise Knight, Cabinet Member for Customer Experience, Resident Support and Culture said:

 

This funding is a fantastic opportunity to preserve and share the powerful history of the Brent Trades Council. These archives capture the voices and struggles of our local communities and workers, and through this project, we can ensure that their stories inspire and educate future generations.

 

The project is expected to be completed over the next year, with the collection becoming fully accessible for public use and academic research.

 

'No to austerity 2' Chalkhill Community Centre, Wednesday 18th June 7pm

 

NEU hold second strike at The Village School, Kingsbury as negotiations with Academy bosses continue

 

NEU staff at The Village School in Kingsbury were on strike for he second day today. Staff are fighting for reinstatement of their leave of absence policy which was removed by the Academy Trust without consultation. Staff say that the Tust broke its own rules by not negotiating with unions first. Ante-natal, carers' and medical/disability leave are particuarly affected.

 

The largely female and ethnically diverse workforce were on the picket line this morning in good cheer and with a tune or two.They were encouraged by many toots of  support from passing vehicles including buses and commercial vans.  Solidarity messages from parents and other schools were read out and enegetically applauded.

I understand that tough negotiations have made some positive progress but there are still several sticking points. A union meeting at the school gates received a report back on the negotiations, listened carefully and then overwhelmingly voted to go ahead with tomorrow's scheduled strike to win the final elements of their demands.

Pete Firmin gives a solidarity message from Brent Trades Council

 

More strikes will be held next week if staff demands are not met.

 

 

 

'Solidarity with the Palestinians' Brent Trades Council zoom meeting Wednesday 7pm

 

WEDNESDAY 22^ND NOVEMBER 2023

7pm

Solidarity with the Palestinians

SPEAKER

MARTIAL KURTZ

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Join Zoom Meeting

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85738283041?pwd=OUVPeXFBWHl1YVBkNEJCSlAvNFFyUT0

Community Action: Brent Fights Back Tuesday July 18th

 

Local MPs, councillors and union activists rally behind the workers at St Mungo's homelessness charity seeking a decent wage

 Apologies for sound quality - not very good PA combined with traffic noise. Speech summaries below.

 

Workers for the homelessness charity St Mungo's, currently striking for a decent wage when the charity's executives are paid large salaries, received support in Wembley on Friday when a solidarity rally took place outside Brent Civic Centre.

Dawn Butler, Brent Central MP, spoke first but had finished by the time I got there. Brent North MP Barry Gardiner told the rally that the government was trying to make people insecure in their employment as a way of  keeping them down. He said, 'We won't buckle down, we won't touch our forelock and say if that's all you can afford, thanks very much then. Because that's not the way trade unions operate, so I stand with you, keep up the fight and solidarity.'

Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, in a speech that was hard to hear, said that the work at St Mungo's was important. He said that as a council they would take the dispute up with St Mungo's to make sure that the dispute process was open, fair and transparent. He, councillors and the Labour Group were commited to fair pay: 'We'll make sure you guys get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.' [St Mungo's get a good proportion of their income via contracts with local councils.]

A Unite organiser said that the workers had a mandate for indefinite industrial action. He said that there had been other issues as well as the current pay dispute with the charity including a glass ceiling on pay, bullying and harassment and dismissal and attemnpted dismissal of their union members. They had made it clear to the employer that enough was enough and they were not going to put up with it anymore.

The employers thought the strikers would buckle within a couple of weeks and brought in agency workers, ahead of the workers being forced to return. Instead the strike and the momentum of the campaign had grown.

The union was now looking at what extra steps they could take and had a plan to take the fight to the directors, the trustees, and the funders who hold the purse strings. They would be contacting those with whom St Mungo's had business links, the City of London, and other charities linked to St Mungo's.

He concluded by saying that a 10% salary increase was needed at the very minimum/

Jonathan Ffuxman, Secretary of Brent Trades Council and a member of Doctors in Unite, said that this was a battle for control of the charity. He said that it beggared belief that a respected charity was a cash cow for its executive while the workers, who helped people off the street to restore their lives, got the minimum wage, were  bullied and harassed and were completely over-worked.

As a GP  he had seen the work St Mungo's did from his Practice.  Life expectancy for homeless people was just 45 years. St Mungo workers are the people who are picking them up from the street, giving them somewhere to stay and helping them. It was an essential service and, 'What do they get? The minimum wage.'

He appealed for support from the labour movement against the background of strikes  by doctors, nurses and others who are fighting back.

'If you are not in a union - join one.  If you are in a union - get active. Make your union do stuff. Every union needs to be fighting hard and showing solidarity.'

Cllr Gwen Grahl, a member of the Brent Cabinet with a background in working for charities said that over the last few decades the charity sector had become more like corporations with executive earning big salaries while there were povery wages for the workers and the use of fire and rehire  and zero hours contracts. She said some charities then undermined the permanent workers by introducing agency staff: 'I fully support you and will join your picket line on Friday.'

Cllr Jumbo Chan, who is a member of the NEU which is also currently in dispute, said that workers were being blamed for other crises that were going on at the moment including the economy.  

He told the strikers, 'The bosses think they are getting away with it, but by say "No!" you are doing something powerful. You are puncturing not just the bosses but a powerful narrative that is supported by politicians, economists and academics.  There is no law that says bosses can earn whatever they want and workers always have to take what they are offered.'

Chan said that the strikers were facing a titanic struggle but have the labour movement behind them and full support.

Responding to the speeches a St Mungo's worker thanked the speakers and those attending and said it really meant something to the strikers. He said they were fed up with the lie that they had to accept 3% a year when price rises were in double figures. 'Enough is enough' had to start meaning something. They had gone into a meeting with management on Tuesday really hoping that there would be a sensible offer but nothing came. It was a waste of time and they now had no option but to escalate the action.

He concluded, 'We are getting more confident as this dispute goes on and we are not going back in there until we have won.'

Supporters are asked to join the picket line from 8.30am on Friday at the St Mungo's facility in Pound Lane Willesden, just opposite the bus garage entrance.

Solidarity Rally with St Mungo's workers at Brent Civic Centre at noon, tomorrow

 

There will be a Rally to support the workers at the St Mungo's homelessness charity on Friday June 16th outside Brent Civic Centre at noon.

The main speakers at the Rally, organised by Brent Trades Council, will be local MPs Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner.

Take along your union banners and placards so that that we make a big declaration of solidarity with workers struggling for a decent wage when executives earn tens of thousands.

 Nearest tube Wembley Park but also accessible from Wembley Central station and multiple bus routes.

 The rally will be preceeded by a short picket outside St Mungo's facility in Pound Lane, Willesden, opposite the bus garage at 9am.

Brent Fights Back organising meeting January 18th 7pm in-person and on zoom

 

Brent Fights Back will be holding an organising meeting on 18th January at 7pm to discuss how we can share information and support local activity across the borough led by different Brent Campaigns. The meeting will be held at BBMC, 386 High Road, London NW10 2JR

If you are interested in coming (it will be in person and on zoom) and would like to be kept informed of local activities, please email

Pete Firmin at petefirmin@btinternet.com.

The zoom link for the meeting is:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74994912332?pwd=hpRfNzbneb82LauaplxdJOcHIrvqsZ.1

Meeting ID: 749 9491 2332

Passcode: 4mHfmn

Brent Council Cabinet confirms megaphone protection order will not limit/affect protests

 

Jonathan Fluxman spoke at today's Cabinet Meeting about Brent Trades Council's concerns  LINK that proposed Brent-wide Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO ) prohibitions on the use of megaphones and amplified microphones would curb the free speech rights of political campaigners and protestors.

 

Fluxman said that in the present form in which the prohibition was framed there was no exemption for such protests, He went on to criticise what he termed a 'flawed consultation and said that Brent Trades Council should have been directly consulted on this aspect of the PSPO proposal.

 

Commenting on the meeting he said:

 

We were pleased to hear several reassurances from Cllr Butt that the PSPO is not intended to limit protest.  My comments are now on record.   I said in its present form there is no exemption, and we would like to see the wording of the exemption to ensure our rights to protest are protected.  Cllr Butt said everything would be minuted and the right to protest would not be restricted: the right to protest is protected in law.

 

He also said we would be added as stakeholders in future, and indicated to the officers  that they should do so.

 

We do need to ensure that the wording of the PSPO is clear when it is published, but it is all minuted, and the Cabinet were clear that the our fundamental rights to demonstrate will not be limited.