Liverpool dockers' dispute (1995–1998)
Dispute between dockers and their employers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Liverpool Dockers' dispute between dockers and their employers, Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) and Torside Ltd, in Liverpool, England, lasted from 1995 to 1998. Although considered a strike, it was strictly a lockout as the employers, Mersey Docks, sacked the dockers for breach of contract when they refused to cross a picket line set up by their sacked Torside Limited colleagues. Initially, five Torside workers were dismissed following a dispute regarding overtime pay, who in turn formed a picket line that other dockers refused to cross in solidarity.
Liverpool dockers' strike | ||||
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Date | September 1995 – 26 January 1998 (850 days or 121 weeks)[1] | |||
Location | ||||
Goals | Reinstatement | |||
Methods | Strike action, International co-operation | |||
Status | Settled | |||
Parties | ||||
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Lead figures | ||||
Various celebrities and high-profile figures, including footballer Robbie Fowler and singer Noel Gallagher, expressed and showed their support during the dispute, either through public awareness or financial support. Despite the election success of a Labour government in 1997, this did not help towards ending the dispute, given the new administration failed to reverse anti-trade union legislation enacted by the former Conservative administration.
The media's reaction to the dispute was unenthusiastic – the BBC's political correspondent for Liverpool suggested that editors did not find the story appealing while other organisations portrayed the dockers as dinosaurs. The British tabloid press did not start to cover the dispute until the international press became aware via communication over the Internet, which had been used by dockers to engage with worldwide trade unions.
The dockers had previously been described by Lloyd's List as "the most productive workforce in Europe". The dispute was never officially recognised by their union due to a ballot not being undertaken before the walkout, although the union did offer support financially and helped towards settlement negotiations. Various settlement offers were made by Mersey Docks and subsequently rejected by the dockers during the course of the dispute. By the time a settlement was negotiated and accepted in 1998, the conflict had become one of the longest disputes in labour history.