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Abstract
As the 20th anniversary of the 1995–1998 Liverpool Dockers’ Strike approaches, this case of industrial action should not be dismissed as a reminder of yet another nail in the coffin of organised labour. Rather, this event needs to be viewed more optimistically in hindsight as a symbol that working-class consciousness and systems of solidarity had not vanished entirely from Britain after the crushing collapse of domestic manufacturing and the fall of the miners in 1985. Indeed, the Liverpool dockers invented a fresh campaign of industrial action at this time, led more from the ‘bottom-up’ than most other labour protests in the past. Fuelled by a cognisant awareness of both community and workplace experience within the context of popular historical memory, this industrial action played significant roles in reconfiguring and adapting solidarity in this new era of rentier, global capitalism. It is appropriate we recall working-class militancy in a city whose own historical narrative is often described as ‘exceptional’ when one reflects upon Liverpool’s long entrenched culture of opposition.
Notes
1. Darlington, ‘Union Militancy and Left-Wing Leadership’, 2–5.
2. For a particularly austere assessment of the state of British scholarship within recent labour historiography, see: McIlroy, ‘Waving or Drowning’, 91–119.
3. Kennedy and Lavelette, ‘Globalisation, Trade Unionism and Solidarity’.
4. For a thorough discussion of 1970s trade unionism in Great Britain, see: Darlington and Lyddon, Glorious Summer.
5. Belchem, Irish, Catholic and Scouse. In this work, Belchem gives convincing evidence that Liverpool was and still remains the largest ‘Irish city’ in Britain. He links this sense of ‘Irishness’ to the separateness felt by many Liverpudlians from the rest of Britain. It is also a major component making up his theory of Liverpool exceptionalism, which should be said is contested by some British historians. Nevertheless, within this work he argues with much convincing empirical evidence that the local English Protestant population of Liverpool was Hibernicised, whereas in Manchester, Glasgow and London, Irish communities drifted into ‘ethnic fade’.
6. Lavalette and Kennedy, Solidarity on the Waterfront.
7. Fukuyama, The End of History and The Last Man.
8. Lyddon, ‘Strike Statistics and Militancy: A Comment’, 153–70.
9. Lane, Liverpool – City of the Sea, 20.
10. Lloyd, Manufacturing Industry in the Inner City, 2.
11. Interview with Tony Nelson.
12. Sapsford and Turnbull, ‘Dockers, Devlin, and Industrial Disputes’, 26–7; Wilson, Dockers: The Impact of Industrial Change, 20–3.
13. Ayers, The Liverpool Docklands, 7.
14. Ibid., 3.
15. Belchem, Irish, Catholic and Scouse. Belchem illustrates numerous examples of sectarian violence from Liverpool’s past in this tome.
16. Phillips and Whiteside, Casual Labour, 238.
17. Belchem, Merseypride: Essays in Liverpool Exceptionalism, 155–76.
18. Stoney, ‘The Abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme’, 19.
19. Hansard, House of Commons, 17 April 1989, c.45.
20. Ibid., 17 April 1989, c.45.
21. Turnbull and Wass, ‘The Greatest Game No More’, 487, 489–90, 493–4.
22. Guardian, 2 August 1989.
23. Lavalette and Kennedy, Solidarity on the Waterfront, 27–31. See also: http://www.labournet.net/docks2/9602/tilbury.htm
24. Lavalette and Kennedy, Solidarity on the Waterfront, 26.
25. Turnbull and Wass, “Greatest Game,” 487–8, 491–2.
26. Merseyside Port Shop Stewards Committee, Submission on Behalf of Sacked Liverpool Dockworkers to the Employment Sub-Committee, House of Commons, May 1996, 5: http://www.labournet.net/docks2/other/topdock.htm
27. Merseyside Port Shop Stewards Committee, ‘The Case for the Reinstatement of the Sacked Liverpool Dockers’: http://www.labournet.net/docks2/9707/booklet.htm; See also: Kennedy and Lavalette, ‘Globalisation, Trade Unionism and Solidarity’, 210; Carter, Clegg, Hogan, Kornberger, ‘The Polyphonic Spree’, 294.
28. Lavalette and Kennedy, Solidarity, chapter 2.
29. Carter et al., ‘Polyphonic Spree, 291.
30. Liverpool Echo, 29 September 1995.
31. Interview with Terry Teague.
32. Interview with Bobby Morton.
33. Lloyds List, 8 December 1995.
34. Carter et al., “Polyphonic Spree,” 293.
35. Interview with Bobby Morton.
36. Guardian, 14 December 1996.
37. Daily Mail, 24 October 1997.
38. Interview with Billy Jenkins.
39. Interview with Terry Teague.
40. Kennedy and Lavalette, ‘Globalisation’, 206–8, 210, 212, 225; Guardian, 23 November 1996, 14 December 1996; Independent, 3 December 1995, 8 December 1996.
41. Carter et al., ‘Polyphonic Spree’, 298. See also: Cohen and Rai, eds, Global Social Movements, 8–10.
42. Interview with Terry Teague.
43. Interview with Terry Teague.
44. Interview with Terry Teague.
45. Labour.net – Top of the Docks: http://www.labournet.net/docks2/9708/canliv1.htm
46. Castree, ‘Geographic Scale and Grass Roots Internationalism’, 282.
47. Kennedy and Lavalette, ‘Globalisation’, 219.
48. Interview with Bobby Morton.
49. Lavalette and Kennedy, Solidarity, 45.
50. Ibid., 47.
51. Interview with Doreen McNally.
52. Interview with Billy Jenkins.
53. Carter et al., ‘Polyphonic Spree’, 292.
54. Labour.net – Liverpool Dock Dispute Ballot: http://www.labournet.net/docks2/9710/ballot3.htm
55. Labour.net Interview with Terry Teague: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/61/066.html
56. Carter et al., “Polyphonic Spree,” 294.
57. Guardian, 4 February 1998.
58. Guardian, 6 February 1998.
59. Liverpool Echo, 27 January 1997.
60. See: Belchem, Merseypride: Essays in Liverpool Exceptionalism; Belchem, Irish, Catholic and Scouse; and Lane, Liverpool – City of the Sea.
61. Beale, ‘Engaged in Battle: Exploring the Sources’, 82–95; Darlington, ‘Workplace Union Resilience in the Merseyside Fire Brigade’, 58–73; Darlington, ‘Union Militancy and Left-wing Leadership’, 2–21.
62. Unfortunately, the Casa Club, as of this writing, has been experiencing financial difficulties. The Liverpool Echo reported in January of 2015 a local variety show that was organised to raise money on its behalf. Liverpool Echo, 19 January 2015.
63. Interview with Jimmy Nolan.