Throughout the history of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

docks, known as

Mersey Docks and Harbour Company The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC), formerly the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (MDHB), owns and administers the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool, on the River Mersey, England. These include the operation of the enclosed north ...

, there have been numerous

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

s by dock workers, although some have been part of larger industrial action affecting other trades and union workers. The most lengthy and best remembered of contemporary times was the dispute during 1995-1998.

History of strikes

Some examples of industrial actions taken prior to the mid-20th century included the dock strike of 1890 and the 1911 Liverpool general transport strike. A strike in late 1967 affected Liverpool and

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, though docks in and around

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

were also affected. The strike involved around 16,000 workers and caused interference with trade exports, with pay systems a core factor. Just two years later in July 1969, dockers again struck with colleagues from Birkenhead, involving 11,000 men over a dispute regarding handling goods at an

Aintree Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a p ...

container base. A few years later in 1972, Liverpool dockers joined in a national dock strike to safeguard jobs, protesting against redundancy plans from firms using cheaper casual labour. The longest known dispute, which was technically not a strike as the workforce were all dismissed, was the

Liverpool dockers' dispute (1995–98) Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

that ended with settlement pay and a few job reinstatements.

History of strikes

See also

References

Further reading