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.

Political developments

Strikes by essential services dismayed many senior Ministers in the Labour government who had been close to the trade union movement, who thought it unlikely that trade unionists would take such action. Among these was Prime Minister James Callaghan himself, who had built his political career on his connection to the trade union, and had practically founded one union (the Inland Revenue Staff Federation) himself. In 1969 Callaghan had led a cabinet revolt which led to the abandonment of a proposed reform of trade union law outlined in a White paper called 'In Place of Strife'; had this reform been implemented, most of the action during the Winter of Discontent would have been illegal.

Related Topics:
Inland Revenue Staff Federation - 1969 - In Place of Strife

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The government continued to negotiate with the senior union leaders and on February 11 came to agreement on a proposal to be put to the TUC general council. On February 14 the general council agreed the concordat, which was published under the title 'The Economy, the Government, and Trade Union Responsibilities' (the significance of Valentines Day was remarked upon by the press). By this stage the degree of control which the Union executives had over their members was limited and strikes did not immediately cease, although they began to wind down from this point. In total in 1979, 29,474,000 working days were lost in industrial disputes, compared with 9,306,000 in 1978.

Related Topics:
February 11 - February 14 - Valentines Day

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