London
1986-1987: Wapping printers strike
A short history of a strike by printers in the London borough of Wapping which began in the winter of 1986 and ended just over a year later. The strike marked one of the last major confrontations of the 1980s between workers and employers.
The strike of newspaper workers that began on January 24, 1986, marked the beginning of a bitter year long dispute between the print workers of Wapping, a borough of East London, and their employers, the publishing company News International.
15. Waterloo, Blood and Honour gig, London, 1992
A personal account of the battle of Waterloo, when Anti Fascist Action trashed a gig by neo-nazi label Blood and Honour by disrupting their redirection point at Waterloo station.
11. Marble Arch Blood and Honour gig, London, 1989
A brief account of Anti Fascist Action trashing a neo-nazi Blood and Honour gig in London in 1989. They did so by occupying the redirection point for the venue.
9. Trafalgar Square, London
An account of opposing fascist attacks on the regular anti-apartheid picket outside South Africa House in Trafalgar Square, London, in the 1980s and 1990s.
8. Brick Lane - fascism and anti-fascism, London
An account of running confrontations between fascists and anti-fascists on London's Brick Lane in the 1980s and 1990s.
7. Stratford, London, 1987(?)
I was passing through Stratford one day on my bike when I spotted a man, about 50 years old, putting stickers up on lamp-posts. I went to check them out and discovered they were National Front stickers. In the meantime the man had gone into a little Italian café across the road. I went in too. He was at the counter getting his order.
Appendix: Uneasy riders start a big push for better working conditions - Evening Standard
Article from the London Evening Standard 22nd February 1990 about the libertarian direct action union the Despatch Industry Workers Union and the reasons behind recent organising attempts of messengers and couriers in the capital.
The couriers are revolting! The Despatch Industry Workers Union, 1989-1992
An excellent and inspiring pamphlet about London's Despatch Industry Workers Union (DIWU). A radical, self-organised and direct action-oriented grouping, it lasted three years, and here the author recounts its history and analyses its successes, failures and lessons for other workers.
Written by Des Patchrider, this pamphlet was printed and is available for sale from the Kate Sharpley Library. Our thanks go to the KSL and the author for permission to host this text online.
Occupational therapy - the incomplete story of the University College Hospital strikes and occupations of 1992-4
The story of the (ultimately unsuccessful) struggle to keep a hospital open despite the efforts of the government, the Area Health Authority, management, University College London and the Wellcome Foundation and Trust.
From the http://www.endangeredphoenix.com website.
Occupational Therapy - the incomplete story of the University College Hospital strikes occupations of 1992/3/4 was put together by a number of individals in the UCH occupation together with help and suggestions from others, London 1995.
UK building workers to prepare for 2012 Olympics
The Olympics will bring much new construction work to London, and some union activists look to the opportunity for a greater say both in the unions they are members of and in the industry itself.
Building workers met in London on Monday evening 27th Nov to discuss possibilities for union organising during the preparations for the 2012 Olympics.
Members of all four unions associated within the construction industry were present at the meeting called by the newly-formed Building Workers Rank and File Committee.
