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On this day, 20 August 1976, the Grunwick strike began in London when Devshi Bhudia was dismissed from a photo processing plant for working too slowly and three colleagues walked out in his support.
Three days later they began picketing in what became an iconic dispute and one of the key struggles of the working class, particularly the Asian and female working class in the UK in the late 20th century.
One worker who became a leader of the strike, Jayaben Desai, walked out as well and spoke to the initial group of workers who had downed tools and were in the car park, planning on vandalising the plant, and the boss's car. She told them: "Don’t do that. You will damage yourself. They will call the police and it’s all insured. Nothing will happen to them but you will damage yourself." When they asked what they could do instead, Desai replied: "We can organise ourselves and we can make a union."
The workers remained out for nearly two years, and while they were unsuccessful in achieving their stated aims, they helped transform the UK workers' movement by pushing white union workers to recognise Asian, Black and migrant workers as their fellow workers rather than as rivals for jobs.
Learn the history of the strike in our podcast episodes 67-68: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/grunwick-strike-1976/
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