1971 United Kingdom postal workers strike
Encyclopedia
The 1971 United Kingdom postal workers strike was a strike
in the United Kingdom
staged by postal workers between January and March 1971.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
staged by postal workers between January and March 1971.
Details
The strike was Britain's first national postal strike and began after postal workers demanded a pay rise of 15-20% then walked out after Post Office managers made a lower offer. The strike began on 20 January and lasted for seven weeks, finally ending with an agreement on Thursday 4 March. After voting over the weekend, the strikers returned to work on Monday 8 March 1971. The strike overlapped with the introduction of decimal currency in the U.K.Private posts
A wide range of officially licenced and unlicenced private posts operated during the strike to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of official postal services. Some were genuine commercial services that provided local, national and international deliveries, but many were set up by stamp collectors and stamp dealers to provide philatelic material for collectors.External links
- BBC On This Day: Post strike ends with pay, 5 March 1971, Retrieved on 31 October 2009.
- Scottish stamps of the 1971 postal strike. (archived at Web Archive)
- A Post Office worker remembers the strike of 1971 . Video Interview
See also
- 1988 United Kingdom postal workers strike1988 United Kingdom postal workers strikeThe 1988 United Kingdom postal workers strike was a strike in the United Kingdom in August and September 1988. It was the country's first national postal strike for 17 years, and began after postal workers at Royal Mail walked out in protest over bonuses being paid to recruit new workers in London...
- 2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes2007 Royal Mail industrial disputesThe 2007 Royal Mail industrial disputes were a series of industrial disputes between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
- 2009 Royal Mail industrial disputes2009 Royal Mail industrial disputesThe 2009 Royal Mail industrial disputes is an industrial dispute in the United Kingdom involving Royal Mail and members of the Communication Workers Union , which began in the summer of 2009...