Winter of Discontent

The "Winter of Discontent" is a nickname given to the British winter of 1978–79, during which there were widespread strikes by Trade Unions demanding larger pay rises for their members. The strikes were a result of the attempted enforcement of a government rule that pay rises be kept below 5%, and began in private industry before spreading to the public sector; many of them seriously disrupted everyday life. Whilst the strikes were largely over by February 1979, the government's inability to contain the strikes earlier helped lead to Margaret Thatcher's victory in the 1979 general election and legislation to restrict unions.

Ford negotiations

Although not an official guideline, the pay rise set by Ford Motors was accepted throughout private industry as a benchmark for negotiations. Ford had enjoyed a good year and could afford a large rise, but was a major government contractor. The management at Ford therefore made a pay offer within the 5% guidelines; 15,000 Ford workers, mostly from the Transport and General Workers Union began an unofficial strike on September 22, and the TGWU made it official from October 5 (the number of participants grew to 57,000). During the strike, Vauxhall Motors employees accepted an 8·5% rise. After long negotiation in which they weighed the chances of suffering from government sanctions against the continued damage of the strike, Ford eventually revised their offer to 17% and decided to accept the sanctions; Ford workers accepted the rise on November 22.

Related Topics:
Ford Motors - Transport and General Workers Union - September 22 - October 5 - Vauxhall Motors - November 22

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