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Organising the Unorganised: 'Race', Poor Work and Trade Unions

Burnsall Strike

John Wrench and Satnam Virdee discuss the relationship between mostly South Asian women workers at Heathrow and Burnsall (Smethwick), their relationships with the TGWU and GMB trade unions, and the role of non-union groups such as the Indian Workers Association and London Support Group. They also discuss racism and reactions to it in British trade unions more generally.

Submitted by Mike Harman on November 14, 2017
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Research Paper in Ethnic Relations No.21 by John Wrench and Satnam Virdee.

wrench-virdee.pdf (125.09 KB)
  • racism
  • strikes
  • unions
  • United Kingdom
  • GMB
  • IWGB
  • 1992 Burnsall strike
  • John Wrench
  • Satnam Virdee
  • Indian Workers Association
  • black liberation in Britain
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