Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism

The menials in the kitchen are invariably Asian women — plus a few men, perhaps, for the heavier work.
And, of course, there is no question of promotion. Indeed, they are lucky if the agency that employs them does not
sack them and re-employ them at some other terminal, at the same wage if not a lower one. Their union, the TGWU,
has been indifferent to their demands and in 1975, when 450 Asian workers on their own initiative, the union declared
the strike. The women managed, though, to elicit a few concessions on their won – and went back to work. (53)
The strike at Grunwick Film Processing plant in North London in August 1976 is. of course, more celebrated —
not only because the Asian workers, most of them women from East Africa, sustained it in wet and snow and
police harassment of pickets for over a year, but also because the whole force of the unions and of government
appeared to be gathered at last on behalf of black workers. Not only were the strikers given strike pay
by their union, but were also supported by the national unions — TGWU, TUC and UPW (Union of Post Office
Workers) — and by local union branches, shop steward’s committees, trade councils, the lot. And cabinet ministers
appeared on the picket lines. The basic issue for the strikers was the question of racist exploitation with
which union recognition was involved, but, in the course of accepting union support, they also accepted the
union line that union recognition by management was really the basic issue, losing in the process the lasting
support of the black community. Union recognition would not have of itself got the vast backing of the unions,
let alone that of cabinet ministers — it had never happened before — but there was now a deal between the
government and unions (the Social Contract) which in exchange for workers not striking ensured, through the Employment
Protection Act, that employers did not prevent unionisation. And that put Grunwick in the middle of it.
As the strike dragged on into a year and the media and the management and its supporters threatened to involve
more fundamental political issues such as the closed shop and the mass picket, the unions lost interest and
left. In November 1977 four strikers, two of them women, started a hunger strike outside the TUC headquarters.
They were immediately suspended by their union and their strike pay withdrawn. Len Murray, General Secretary
of the TUC, suggested that they take up their hunger strike at the factory gates and not outside his office. (54)
The lessons of the earlier strikes – that black workers needed to rally the community behind them and from that
base force the unions on to their side – had been temporary unlearnt by workers who had not had the benefit of
that tradition. On the other hand, the persistence of Asian women in going on the picket lines, month after month,
against the pressure of their husbands and their fathers, the deception of the union and the attacks of the SPG – supported
consistently by women’s groups – had established the strength of the emerging black women’s movement.
In 1977 the National Front, encouraged by their performance (in terms of the percentage of
votes cast) in previous local elections, staged several marches through black city areas, with
the police ensuring for them the freedoms of speech and assembly They were closely attended
by anti-racist groups — and black youth took the opportunity to stone both police and fascists alike.
In January 1978 Judge McKinnon ruled that Kingsley Read’s pronouncement on Chaggar’s death — ‘One down, one million
to go’ — did not constitute incitement to racial hatred. ‘In this England of ours,’ the Judge observed, ‘we are allowed to
have our own views still, thank goodness, and long may it last.’ Kingsley Read was the head of the fascist National Party.
60 | Coming of Age
Coming of Age Final version 16.10.indd 60 17/10/2017 12:07