Winter of Discontent

The "Winter of Discontent" is an expression, popularised by the British media, referring to the winter of 1978–79 in the United Kingdom, during which there were widespread strikes by local authority trade unions demanding larger pay rises for their members, because the Labour government of James Callaghan sought to hold a pay freeze to control inflation. The weather turned very cold in the early months of 1979 with blizzards and deep snow, and it became the coldest since 1962–63, which added to people's misery.

The strikes were a result of the Labour government's attempt to control inflation by imposing rules on the public sector that pay rises be kept below 5%, as an example to the private sector. However, employers conducted their negotiations within mutually agreed limits with their employees' unions. While the strikes were largely over by February 1979, the government's inability to contain the strikes earlier helped lead to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative victory in the 1979 general election and legislation to restrict unions. Public sector employee strike actions included an unofficial strike by gravediggers working in Liverpool and Tameside, and strikes by refuse collectors. Additionally, NHS ancillary workers formed picket lines to blockade hospital entrances with the result that many hospitals were reduced to taking emergency patients only.

The phrase "Winter of Discontent" is from the opening line of William Shakespeare's Richard III: "Now is the Winter of our Discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York…", and was first applied to the events of the winter by Robin Chater, a writer at Incomes Data Report. It was subsequently used in a speech by Prime Minister Callaghan and then popularised by several tabloid newspapers – including The Sun in an editorial.