The NGA's road to defeat

Scan page 15

AFTER a . four week strike in vehicles in 1977 to about 11,000 1980: Eddie Shah, whose free papers were originally typeset and printed by the Cumbrian Newspaper Co. in Carlisle, opens his own typesetting company, Fineward, in Stockport.

He hires eight NGA members, fuur of whom are from the Carlisle compary and signs a closed shop agreement.

March 1982: Shah informs the NGA he wishes to start another newspaper and typesetting operation in Bury. He agrees to a closed shop, but informs the union that rates will be £40£70 a week below those paid at Stockport.

March 1982: Dispute about new house agreement at Stockport. April 1982: Shah writes to NGA to revoke Bury agreement. September 1982: NGA discover that Shah has recruited non-union staff for Bury and trained them to operate typesetting equipment. Negotiations continue but are unproductive. February 1983: Shah follows the Bury pattern at Warrington. A printing press is installed at Winnick Quay and non-union staff are recruited.

April 1983: Shah is still refusing NGA free access to his employees but agrees they can come in for one recruitment meeting -which is unsuccessful.

June 1983: Shah holds secret ballot of employees at Bury and Warrington on whether they wish to join the union. They vote 'no' July 1983: The NGA's patience is exhausted. They call their eight members at the Stockport Fireward plant out on strike. Six complied with the instruction and were sacked by Shah. July 8, 1983: NUJ NEC instructs journalists on the Stockport Messenger to hold mandatory meeting to vote on industrial action in support of NGA. Chapel vote against.

July 1983: NGA attempts to get Northern Counties Newspapers, a Reed International subsidiary and a shareholder in the Messenger Group, to put pressure on Shah to agree to closed shops at Warrington and Bury. This is unsuccessful. But industrial action on Daily Mirror jeads to Reed selling its shares in the Messenger Group. July 1983: NGA puts pressure on advertisers not to deal with Shah.

August 18: NUJ General Secretary Ken Ashton, who possessed contingency strike authority from the NEC, instructs Stockport chapel not to supply any material to non-union personnel from August 29.

September 6: High Court in Manchester grants Eddie Shah an injunction under the 1982 Employment Act ordering NUJ to lift its blacking instruction. Blacking continues.

Penalty September 16: Eddie Shah returns to High Court which finds the NUJ guilty of contempt for refusing i accept the injunction. No penalty was imposed, as the NUJ NEC was meeting the following day.

September 17: NUJ NEC takes the historic decision to defy the September 19: Stockport chapel vote to return to normal working and obey the injunction after Shah agrees to drop all action against NUJ in return. Showdown averted.

September-October: NGA decides to step up picketing at Stockport, Warrington.

October 6: NUJ members at Stockport vote not to cross NGA picket lines.

October 14: In response Shah returns to High Court where an injunction is granted against the NGA.

November 10: Picketing is building up to mass proportions at Warrington.

November 18: In response, Shah returns to High Court claiming NGA are violating the injunction. NGA fined £50,000 for contempt of court.

November 21: TUC Employment and Organisation Committee reaffirm support for NGA objective and welcome ACAS attempts to solve dispute. November 22: NGA refuse to pay fine.:

November 24: TUC General Council again gives only general "support" • Murray says -no blank cheques for NGA and he cannot condone "violent" picketing.

November 25: High Court orders £150,000 fine and seizure of total assets of NGA.

November 26-27: National newspapers fail to appear as Fleet Street printers walk out in support of the NGA.

November 28: Six national newspapers fail to appear and state they have sacked NGA members. The rest publish and mop up sales.

November 29: Differences within Newspaper Proprietors Association _ Fleet Street employers organisation papered over by a compromise. They will all publish but sue NGA for damages for loss of production.

November 29-30: Biggest mass pickets • since Grunwicks at Shah's Warrington plant. 4,000 attend but are out-manoeuvred by massive police presence. Nearly 200 arrests.

Injunction

November 29: TUC EPOC states it will give NGA all support possible within the law. December 2: TUC General Council spends 20 minutes unanimously approving recommendation from EPOC giving qualified support to the NGA as long as action keeps within the December 2: Shah returns to High Court to make third contempt charge against NGA. But agreement reached to suspend hostilities and allow talks. Picketing and legal action to be lifted.

December Talks AFTER a four week strike in JOHN HARRIS The picket line at Warrington Shah returns to the High Court which fine NGA another half a million pounds:

December 10: NGA National Council calls for one-day national print stoppage set for Wednesday December 14.

December 12: In face of avalanche of injunctions against the strike from national and provincial newspapers the TUC BPOC votes 9-7 to adopt "a sympathetic and supportive attitude to the entirely predictable official decision" by the NGA to strike. . Decision publicly condemned by Len Murray as against General Council policy. He states he will seek to reverse it. December 13: NGA decides to suspend the strike.

December 14: TUC General Council votes 29-21 to endorse Murray's position.

December 6: NGA National Council votes not to take further action in the dispute until it has held consultation with those unions which were prepared to unions which support it.

Defeat January 18: NGA national council votes to 'purge its contempt' and thus implicitly accepts defeat. Shah sacks seven NUJ members for refusing to cross NGA picket line. trial action if the strike plans do go ahead, an initial meeting of all Ford joint workshop committees has been called in London for Saturday February 4.