FEBRUARY 15 1971 was United Kingdom Decimalisation Day: no longer were there 12 pennies to a shilling, half-crowns or 240 pennies to the pound.
That day, 50 years ago, was also just over halfway through the greatest strike this country had seen since the General Strike of 1926: the 44-day national strike of 200,000 Post Office workers.
Telegraphists, telephonists, Post Office counter clerks, cleaners, postmen (170,000 of them!) and PHGs (postmen higher grade), members of the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW), struck for their claim of 15 per cent, or £3 a week for lower-paid grades such as cleaners.
They picketed, they lobbied, they marched, but after six-and-a-half weeks they went back to work defeated: why was that?
MBB webinar discusses EU pay transparency directive timesofmalta.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesofmalta.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
Chilean union federation issues strike call over pay demands
Chile’s Workers Unitary Central (CUT) labor federation called for a nationwide strike for April 30, the day before International Workers Day, to press for a wage rise and other demands. The call followed an April 15 CUT National Extended Council meeting of some 200 union officials.
The demands that will be put forward in the strike include a 500,000 peso (US$711) emergency rent payment, a freeze on food prices and a minimum monthly wage of 500,000 pesos. Most activities from nonattendance at telework sites to hanging of flags for victims of COVID-19,
Sant memoirs: Mintoff’s watery stew, cheap plonk, and his Gang of Four
Alfred Sant’s political tell-all casts a ruthless eye on Dom Mintoff and his confidants, a much-needed sober view of the man Labour loved before he brought down the house in 1998
15 April 2021, 7:19am
by Matthew Vella
Bertie Mizzi’s wisdom is solicited by Dom Mintoff, standing next to his works minister Lorry Sant
In Alfred Sant’s tell-all on the 1980s, the novelist’s keen eye for detail generously embellishes the mundane world of a political era that few people had access to, or even read about in the staid press of yesteryear.
Scotland could be partitioned into pro-UK and pro-independence regions under George Galloway manifesto plan
The firebrand politician has proposed that parts of Scotland could vote to stay in the UK in a follow-up ballot if a nationwide referendum showed a majority for independence.
Updated
George Galloway said Scotland would be left eating itself after a vote for independence (Image: PA)
Our Politics newsletter is now daily. Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox.Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.
Subscribe
When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. OurPrivacy Noticeexplains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.