Winter of Discontent - Political Developments

Political Developments

Strikes by essential services dismayed many senior ministers in the Labour government who had been close to the trade union movement, who thought it unlikely that trade unionists would take such action. Among these was Prime Minister James Callaghan himself, who had built his political career on his connection to the trade union, and had practically founded one union (the Inland Revenue Staff Federation) himself. In 1969 Callaghan had led a cabinet revolt which led to the abandonment of a proposed reform of trade union law outlined in a white paper called 'In Place of Strife'; had this reform been implemented, most of the action during the Winter of Discontent would have been illegal.

The government continued to negotiate with the senior union leaders and on 11 February came to agreement on a proposal to be put to the TUC General Council. On 14 February the General Council agreed the concordat, which was published under the title 'The Economy, the Government, and Trade Union Responsibilities' (the significance of Valentine's Day was remarked upon by the press). By this stage the degree of control which the union executives had over their members was limited and strikes did not immediately cease, although they began to wind down from this point. In total in 1979, 29,474,000 working days were lost in industrial disputes, compared with 9,306,000 in 1978.