Class And Gender In British Labour History
Liz Payne hails a rigorous overview of women in the labour movement
Coach And Horses
Joseph Conaghan (Glantaff House, £4.99)
Tuesday 13 July 2010
Printable
EmailJoseph Conaghan recalls his experiences during the five-month-long 1989-90 ambulance dispute when ambulance workers were locked out and prevented by a High Court injunction from responding to 999 calls.
By law ambulance workers cannot resort to strike action and governments were happy to let their pay lag behind the fire service and police. So the busiest emergency service became the worst paid.
Conaghan's health service career began as a hospital porter. He became a paramedic, union activist and NHS Staff Council member - a career that coincided with the battle to secure a decent wage, proper recognition and training for ambulance workers.
The Thatcher government saw an opportunity to break the health unions, but the ambulance workers never went on strike. Instead they only responded to emergency calls. The government escalated the dispute finally locking the workers out of the stations with the police and the army dealing with the emergencies.
Many of us will remember Kenneth Clarke's gibe that ambulance workers were "glorified taxi drivers" - one of many PR disasters.
But the ambulance workers ran a superb campaign, particularly as four unions were involved - Nupe, GMB, COHSE and Nalgo, and to a lesser degree, the T&G.
The stories of the support they got from the public are wonderful. This book could prove timely with lessons to remember and digest.
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