Grunwick Dispute - Mass-pickets

Mass-pickets

The dispute, and the media hype around it, became far more heated for a few weeks in June and July 1977 when mass-pickets formed of trade unionists and supporters from across London tried to stop non-striking Grunwick workers from entering the workplace. Police responded with greater numbers and more aggressive tactics and violence broke out on a number of occasions.

The local Brent Trades Council, led by its President (veteran construction union activist and Communist Party Industrial Organiser Tom Durkin) and its ambitious young Secretary (TGWU activist Jack Dromey), had become increasingly active in support of the strikers, mobilising support from other Trades Councils, trade unions and other Labour Movement bodies across Greater London. From the Spring of 1977 this had led to delegations of trade unionists from other parts of London starting to attend at and support the picket lines and the Grunwick management and the police had responded by preventing pickets from having any contact with workers entering the factory. In the Summer the Strike Committee, supported by the Trades Council, decided to call mass-pickets in an attempt to prevent buses carrying non-striking workers entering the Grunwick premises and a mass-picket and demonstration was called for 22 June 1977. This mobilisation call was vigorously taken up by several Trade Union and Labour Movement bodies across London and by virtually all leftist political organisations (notably the Communist Party and its newspaper, the Morning Star, the Socialist Workers' Party and various political groups inside the Labour Party). The 22 June event became a national demonstration of solidarity with the Grunwick strikers.

On 22 June delegations from Trades Councils, several Constituency Labour Parties and a great many trade unions (including Miners and Print workers) attended the mass-picket. The attendance of the President of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill, and a delegation of mineworkers from as far-afield as Yorkshire, South Wales and Kent, was highlighted by the media. There were clashes between police and pickets (and a large number of arrests) when police tried to escort buses carrying non-striking employees into the Grunwick plant and bloody scenes between the police and the pickets were broadcast on television.

The Labour Government decided to commission an enquiry under Lord Scarman and the pickets were called off in mid-July to wait for the result of the enquiry. APEX announced it would abide by the outcome of the enquiry but Ward did not, saying he would only submit to the normal courts.