The Wapping dispute started on the 24th January 1986 when some 6,000 British trade unionists went on strike after months of protracted negotiation with their employers, News International (parent of Times Newspapers and News Group Newspapers). The company management was seeking a legally binding agreement at their new plant in Wapping, London, which incorporated flexible working, a no-strike clause, new technology and the abandonment of the closed shop. For years Fleet Street had been plagued by poor industrial relations – the so-called "Spanish practices" had given the print workers a bad name. (Redirected from 24th January) January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Jump to: navigation, search For the television series tentatively titled Fleet Street, see Boston Legal. ...

Despite the wide-spread use of the offset litho printing process elsewhere, the Murdoch papers in common with the rest of Fleet Street continued to be produced by the hot-metal and labour-intensive linotype method. Eddie Shah's Messenger group, in a long running and bitter dispute at Warrington had benefitted from the Thatcher government's trade union legislation to allow employers to de-recognize unions, enabling the company to use an alternative workforce and new technology in newspaper production. The dramatic cut in production costs - journalists could input copy directly reducing the need for labour in the print halls – meant that profits would increase dramatically. Murdoch's motives in pursuing the change in production methods were obvious. The Offset Printing process Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or offset) first to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. ... Jump to: navigation, search For the television series tentatively titled Fleet Street, see Boston Legal. ... Linotype typesetting machine Originally an American company, formed in 1886 to market the linecaster invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler, Mergenthaler Linotype (pronounced LINEotype ) became the worlds leading manufacturer of book and newspaper typesetting equipment. ... Eddy Shah (also Eddie Shah) is a Manchester-based maverick businessman, the founder of the then technologically-advanced UK newspaper Today, and current owner of the Messenger Group. ... Jump to: navigation, search Warrington, the United Kingdom’s third biggest town (as opposed to city), is a town and borough in North West England, between Manchester and Liverpool. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British stateswoman. ...

Immediately after the strike was announced, dismissal notices were served on all those taking part in the industrial action. As part of a plan that had been developed over many months, the company replaced the workforce with members of the EETPU and transferred its four major titles (The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and the News of the World) to the Wapping plant. Murdoch had misled the print unions in to thinking that the Wapping plant was to be used for a new (non-existent) London evening newspaper. And so began what has become known as the Wapping dispute. Jump to: navigation, search The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... The Sunday Times is the name of several Sunday newspapers. ... Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation). ... The News of the World is a British tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. ...

In support of their dismissed members, the print unions organised regular marches and demonstrations outside the company's premises, in Pennington Street and Virginia Street, off The Highway. They also called for a boycott of the four newspapers involved. As the dispute gathered momentum a large-scale police operation was mounted to ensure that the Wapping plant could operate effectively. The Highway is a mile-long road in the East End of London, with several historic landmarks nearby. ...

In 1987 the strike finally collapsed. With it the restrictive trade union practices associated with the traditional Fleet Street publishing empires also collapsed and the trade union movement in Britain was irrevocably changed. The actions of News International and its proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, together with the EETPU and the police were widely criticised – in particular the heavy-handed policing methods that had been employed. People in Wapping were largely viewed by the police as sympathetic to the case of the strikers, and were frequently denied access to their streets and homes. The strike also coincided with the redevelopment of the Docklands (of which Wapping is a part) and the influx of 'Yuppies' – the affluent young attracted by opportunities in the burgeoning city. Jump to: navigation, search 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search For the television series tentatively titled Fleet Street, see Boston Legal. ... News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Jump to: navigation, search Asshat ... Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in the east of London, England, comprising parts of several boroughs (Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham) in Greater London. ... Yuppie is short for Young Urban Professional. It is used to describe a demographic profile: people, usually between their late twenties and early thirties, generally with graduate degrees. ...

It was claimed at the time of the dispute that the new production methods would result in an increase of choice in the British press (the overwhelming majority were – and remain – conservative in orientation), but in practice this was limited. The Sunday Correspondent was short-lived and The Independent was taken over after a few years and continues to have an uncertain future. Although it may have saved some newspapers from closure, it has strengthened those groups which were already in a strong position. The profits of Murdoch's tabloids have been used to subsidize the predatory pricing of The Times against The Independent in particular, and Murdoch's wider expansionist ambitions. The Sunday Correspondent was a short lived British weekly national broadsheet newspaper. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ...

External link

• Fortress Wapping - The Story of the Wapping Dispute