On this day, 14 August 1889, the great London dock strike began when workers at West India Dock walked out and called on others to join them. Within two weeks 130,000 were out and dockers’ wives organised a rent strike for the duration of the stoppage.
Other workers like Jewish tailors walked out with their own demands. Australian dockers donated money to support their UK colleagues, and after four weeks the employers caved and agreed nearly all the workers’ demands.
The men had been inspired by the strike of “match girls” at Bryant & May the previous year. The dispute marked a turning point in British working class history, as disorganised casual workers like the dockers were inspired to organise themselves and start to win.
This is a short history of the struggle: https://libcom.org/history/1889-the-great-london-dock-strikehttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2057085381143268/?type=3
