The Wapping dispute started on 24 January 1986 when some 6,000 newspaper workers went on strike after months of protracted negotiation with their employers, News International (parent of Times Newspapers and News Group Newspapers, chaired by Rupert Murdoch). News International had built and equipped a new printing plant for all its titles at Wapping in secret and when the print unions announced a strike it activated this new plant with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU) union workers. News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... Rupert Keith Murdoch AC, KCSG, (born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 11 March 1931) is an Australian-American global media executive and is the top shareholder, chairman and managing director of News Corporation, based in New York City. ... Wapping Old Stairs, one of many points of access to the foreshore in the area. ... The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, known as the EEPTU was a British trade union formed in 1968. ...

Background

For years Fleet Street had been living with poor industrial relations – the so-called "Spanish practices" had put limits on the owners that they considered intolerable. On the other hand, the company management was seeking to have the union accept terms that they considered unacceptable: flexible working, a no-strike clause, the adoption of new technology and the abandonment of the closed shop. Fleet Street in 2005 Fleet Street is a famous street in London, England, named after the River Fleet. ...

Despite the widespread 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, rather than being composed electronically. Eddie Shah's Messenger group, in a long-running and bitter dispute at Warrington had benefited from the Thatcher government's trade union legislation to allow employers to de-recognise unions, enabling the company to use an alternative workforce and new technology in newspaper production. Journalists could input copy directly, reducing the need for labour in the print halls, cutting costs and production time dramatically. 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. ... Fleet Street in 2005 Fleet Street is a famous street in London, England, named after the River Fleet. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Linotype machine. ... Apple Pages being used with one of the free templates Desktop publishing (also known as DTP) combines a personal computer and page layout software to create publication documents on a computer for either large scale publishing or small scale local economical multifunction peripheral output and distribution. ... 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. ... Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ...

Start of dispute

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 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 led the print unions into thinking that the Wapping plant was to be used for a new evening newspaper, the London Post. And so began what has become known as the Wapping dispute. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... This article is about a British tabloid. ... The News of the World is a British tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. ...

In support of sacked 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. ...

Collapse of strike

The strike collapsed on February 5th 1987. With the restrictive trade union practices associated with the traditional Fleet Street publishing empires removed, the trade union movement in Britain was irrevocably changed. The actions of News International and its chairman, Rupert Murdoch, together with the EETPU and the police were criticised^[1] — in particular the policing methods that were employed. People in Wapping were largely viewed by the police as sympathetic to the strikers, and were frequently denied access to their streets and homes.^[2] The strike also coincided with the redevelopment of the Docklands, of which Wapping is a part. News International is a British newspaper publisher owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corporation. ... The Millennium Dome and Canary Wharf from the Royal Victoria Dock. ...

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 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 went through periods of financial insecurity, although this now seems to have improved. The Sunday Correspondent was a short lived British weekly national broadsheet newspaper. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ...

1. ^ Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, 1987; Littleton, 1992; Pilger, 1998
2. ^ National Council for Civil Liberties, 1986

References

• Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, A Case to Answer? A report on the policing of the News International demonstration at Wapping on 24th January 1987, The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, 1987
• S Littleton, The Wapping Dispute: An Examination of the Conflict & Its Impact on the National Newspaper Industry, Avebury, 1992
• B MacArthur, Eddy Shah: Today and the Newspaper Revolution, David & Charles, 1988
• L Melvern, The End of the Street, Octavo/Methuen, 1986
• National Council for Civil Liberties, No Way in Wapping, Civil Liberties Trust, 1986
• N Oatridge, Wapping ’86: The Strike that Broke Britain’s Newspaper Unions, Coldtype, 2002
• J Pilger, Hidden Agendas, Vintage, 1998 (Fortress Wapping - extract)
• M Richardson, Leadership, Mobilisation and the 1986-87 News International dispute, Paper submitted to the Historical Studies in Industrial Relations and the Society for the Study of Labour History Joint Conference, 2002
• P Wintour, The Rise & Fall of Fleet Street, Hutchinson, 1991