1986. Lesbians and Gays Support the Printworkers
The recent movie Pride has done much to raise awareness of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM); a group of queer men and women who raised funds for striking miners during the 1984/85 National Miners Strike. But this month sees the 30th anniversary of another, lesser-known, queer group – Lesbians and Gays Support the Printworkers (LGSP).
Like LGSM, LGSP came together to support workers fighting sacking and victimisation – in this case, employees of Rupert Murdoch’s News International in London. Unlike LGSM, some members of LGSP were printworkers themselves, so were directly affected by the dispute.
The printworkers had gone on strike on 24th January 1986, in response to management’s refusal to negotiate terms for moving printing operations away from Fleet Street. Murdoch insisted that workers accept flexible working, agree to a no-strike clause and abandon a closed-shop agreement (that is, employment open only to union members).
Within hours of the workers going on strike, News International issued termination notices to all striking workers and brought in members of a rogue union – the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union – to replace them.
The dispute then played out in a similar way to the previous year’s miner’s dispute. Union assets were seized; major protests took place; mass picketing attempted to prevent publication of Murdoch’s newspapers – the Times, Sunday Times, News of the World and the Sun – police were criticised for their heavy handed approach to protesters and the Thatcher government backed Murdoch at every step.
LGSP undertook a range of activities during the dispute including picketing, fund-raising, leafletting and the production of badges as well as a regular newsletter. Given that the dispute was centred around premises is London, there was relatively little opportunity for queer people outside of London to get involved; unlike the miners strike, which had been played out across the country. Whether or not that influenced the lower profile of LGSP in comparison to LGSM is not known.
Tackling Homophobia
As with the miner’s dispute, opinion in Britain’s queer community was divided. For example, an article in the July 1986 issue of Gay Times criticised LGSP because printworkers “have year in, year out, printed the vicious homophobic propaganda of Fleet Street.”
I wasn’t involved with LGSM, being 18 at the time and not totally out, so when the print workers strike came about I saw a letter within the Labour Party about Lesbians and Gays Support the Printworkers (LGSP), so I went off to their weekly meeting at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre (opposite Farringdon station) and, like others, got involved in their campaign (around the summer of 1986) and not yet 20, would join their bucket collections outside Gay’s the Word on a Saturday afternoon and then in the evening would make my way to a guy called Roger and his flat close to Aldgate Gate where we’d meet and then make our way to Tower Hill tube for the Saturday night march down to Wapping. I was still a gentle shy flower at the time until one night when I let loose screaming “scabs” as the lorries would drive by us and some of the drivers giving the two-finger salute and for me being restrained.
I made some good friends during that time (Roger, Geoff, Stephen from Australia, Cate(?) spring to mind).
I still have a couple of the badges from the Wapping dispute and show in pride at my involvement.
When the strike ended, it all felt so suddenly and everything about LGSP just kind of ended and it was such an empty feeling. The film ‘Pride’ however helped me bring back those Saturday’s at GtW and Wapping with a feeling of I tried my best and made me realise my TU LGBT political involvement, which I’m personally proud of.