Crisis? What crisis? How the Winter of Discontent took hold
IT WAS the perfect storm of industrial disputes, rising inflation and fuel shortages which became known as the Winter of Discontent.
Troops were on standby for a state of emergency to be declared as an unofficial strike by lorry drivers brought the country almost to a standstill.
It led to Jim Callaghan, the then prime minister, giving a famous impromptu press conference at a freezing Heathrow on his return from a Caribbean summit.
Callaghan’s view that this did not amount to “mounting chaos” led The Sun to carry the front page headline quoting Callaghan as saying: “Crisis, what crisis?”
They were the three words that helped bring down the Labour government, even though the man generally thought to have uttered them – Jim Callaghan – did not in fact do so.
The term Winter of Discontent comes from Shakespeare’s play Richard III, and was used in an interview by Callaghan, and socialists believe it has been used to attack the trade unions, both then and ever since.
There are some parallels with Scotland in 2022 as rising inflation, a cost of living crisis and strike threats over pay awards threaten to usher in months of disruption during the summer rather than the winter.
In 1978, there were protests against wage freezes and cuts by hospital workers, refuse collectors, road gritters and grave diggers disrupted the country.
There were queues for petrol at petrol stations, and reports of panic buying and pundits talking of “stagflation” – a flat economy and rising inflation.
That perfect storm also led to empty shelves in supermarkets and rubbish on the streets.
Industrial unrest was prompted by Callaghan’s attempt to impose a 5 per cent cap on pay rises to curb inflation and proved to be a catastrophic move. Workers were in no mood to agree and several unions went on strike in support of double-digit claims.
It was action by lorry drivers which proved the turning point. They were joined by colleagues working for oil companies.
The tanker drivers settled for 13% and a chain reaction was set off.
In September 1978, 2,000 workers at the Ford car plant in Dagenham walked out after the company turned down union demands for a 35-hour week and a £20-a-week pay rise.
Ford workers in Merseyside, Swansea, Daventry, Southampton, and Basildon had already been led out by union bosses a few days earlier. In mid-november they returned to work after accepting a pay rise of 17 per cent.
So began a push for pay rises as inflation soared.
Ambulance workers, health service staff, rubbish collectors and grave diggers were among those who took action.
By the end of the month miners, council manual workers, and NHS auxiliary staff had all put in claims for a 40% increase.
Oil workers waded in with demands in December at Shell, Esso and Texaco.
Meanwhile householders struggled to get fuel to heat their homes during what was the coldest winter for 16 years.
As the disruption of fuel supplies continued, the Labour government planned Operation Drumstick, putting the Army on standby to take over from tanker drivers. The government withdrew the move as it required the declaration of a state of emergency.
The lasting images from the time are of rubbish in the streets as council workers went on strike and reports of bodies lying unburied in mortuaries due to a strike by gravediggers.
As all this was just starting to escalate, the PM had gone to an economic conference in Guadeloupe in the West Indies. Looking tanned, he returned to be asked how he was going to deal with the problems.
“I don’t think other people in the world would share the view [that] there is mounting chaos,” was what he actually said.
By then, Callaghan was clinging to power after the end of a pact with the Liberals. With the doubtful support of minority parties, he hoped to claw back the Tories’ 10-point poll lead.
As the disruption continued, the Labour government put the Army on standby
But it was not the calamitous economic situation that led Callaghan to call an election.
It was the decision not to press ahead with devolution immediately after Scotland produced a small majority in favour which did not reach the threshold set by Parliament of 40%.
That led the Scottish National Party to withdraw support from the government and on March 28, in a motion of no confidence the government lost by one vote, precipitating a General Election.
Tory leader Margaret Thatcher had already outlined her proposals for restricting trade union power in a party political broadcast on January 17 in the middle of the lorry drivers’ strike. During the election campaign the Conservative Party made extensive use of the disruption caused during the strike.
It helped the Tories under Thatcher to romp to victory in May, 1979, even though the Labour vote actually increased.
The Winter of Discontent was seen as the catalyst for union reforms brought in by Mrs Thatcher as public opinion deemed them to have had too much power.