This year marks the 40 anniversary of the epic Grunwick dispute. Working with Sundari Anitha (Lincoln University) and Wilf Sullivan (Race Equality Officer, TUC) Ruskin College will host a major, national event on 24th September to mark this milestone in labour movement, social and political history.
Sundari has been central to recent activity linked to Grunwick and helped contribute to the Striking Women educational resource: http://www.striking-women.org/
As part of this work she and other colleagues at Lincoln have also generated a mobile display which depicts the dispute as part of a much bigger story of migration. The display will on view on the 24th.
In the shadow of the trade union bill the event will be a perfect platform to explore the nature of the dispute and its legacy for organised labour and for race/racism in the UK.
Details - other than the date and a handful of speakers - have not yet been nailed down, but when they are they will be circulate.
I am pleased to say that the event will be run in partnership with the Modern Records Centre at Warwick University (who will be holding their own Grunwick event) as it is a major repository of material on the dispute.
There is a Grunwick at 40 FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Grunwick40/
This is being used as a key social media forum to be organise and publicise events, so please do think about an event you can hold in the workplace, via a trades council etc.
When John Hendy QC visited Ruskin last week to speak to BA ILTUS students about the TU Bill he made clear that there is always a need to look afresh on the history of the trade union movement in the UK, not least to devise strategies to meet traditional struggle in a modern age.
So, more details to follow.
In Solidarity
Ian
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