- Pentonville Five
-
The Pentonville Five were five shop stewards jailed in July 1972 by the National Industrial Relations Court for refusing to obey a court order to stop picketing of a container depot in East London.
They arrest and imprisonment lead to the Trade Unions Congress calling a general strike.
Contents
Injuction
The events took place against the background of a clash between the Conservative government of Edward Heath and the trade union movement, involving the first national miners’ strike in Britain since 1926, with mass picketing, and clashes between police and workers.
Dockers at the Chobham Farm container depot, Temple Mills, Newham were unofficially striking, and picketing the site.
The National Industrial Relations Court (NIRC) had issued an injunction barring further picketing, following an application by Midland Cold Storage Company.[1]
Arrest
Picketing continued despite the injunction. Five shop stewards were named by private investigators for the cold storage company – Conny Clancy, Tony Merrick, Bernie Steer, Vic Turner and Derek Watkins. Warrants were issued by the court for their arrest for contempt of court, and they were imprisoned on July 21 1972.
Protests
Following their arrest, a rolling series of strikes began to cause work stoppages until there was virtually an unofficial national strike.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) then called for an official national strike on 31 July, demanding the release of the five shop stewards.
Thousands of striking workers marched through North London to Pentonville Prison.
Release
The Five were released within a week of their arrest when Official Solicitor Norman Turner, on receipt of the papers, successfully applied to the Court of Appeal.
The Official Solicitor is a court official who represents those were are unable to represent their own interests. For this case, he was assisted in the Court of Appeal by barrister John Vinelott later a High Court judge.
The Official Solicitor was successful in his application to overturn the arrest warrants, on the grounds that the National Industrial Relations Court had insufficient grounds to deprive them of their liberty, and that the evidence of the private investigators was insufficient.[2]
Legacy
Subsequently Vic Turner continued to work in the docks, transferring from the Royal Docks to Tilbury. However he left the docks under the voluntary redundancy scheme and started working for Newham London Borough Council. He was then elected as a Councillor and served for many years before being elected as Mayor.
During this period he was also presented with the Transport and General Union Gold Medal for his work for the union.
Film
The radical film group Cinema Action made a documentary called Arise Ye Workers[3] during the struggle, which was released in 1973. The film won the Silver Dove at the Leipzig Film Festival and was screened by the jailed dockers on the anniversary of their release from jail.
References
- ^ Midland Cold Storage Co. Ltd. v Steer [1972] (ICR)
- ^ Daily Telegraph 24 December 2007, Obituary: Norman Turner
- ^ http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/711919/index.html
- Death of The Docks, Colin Ross, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4520-1909-3
External links
Categories:- 1970s in the United Kingdom
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