To mark the 30th anniversary of the Liverpool Dockers dispute, John Campbell and Moira Kenny-Campbell, of The Sound Agents: Arts, Culture and Heritage organisation, have been collecting items from local families for a special exhibition.
The Exhibition is featured in the shop window of Radical and Community bookshop News from Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4HY
The idea for the display was inspired when Joan Bennet, co-founder and treasurer of Women of the Waterfront (WOW), donated her late husband Paddy’s archive to The Dockers Club Facebook Group run by The Sound Agents, to help establish a permanent archive. Other local families have also contributed precious items, and the Liverpool Dockers Archive will soon be accessible at the Liverpool Record Office, Central Library.
Former sacked docker and steward Kevin Robinson has volunteered as a consultant for the project. Reflecting on the anniversary, he said: “It’s important to mark this date because of the struggle we had to gain the victory.
Even though it was a massive struggle for all concerned, it was won with local, national, and international support. Supporting workers in struggle has no boundaries. Workers united will never be defeated.”
“We followed in the Miners footsteps and got the women on board. They didn’t know what we did or where we worked, we could be anywhere on a 7 mile span of the Docks. I told the men ‘When the money dries up, love goes out the window’
The women were amazing, their confidence grew and they spoke in front of hundreds of people internationally”
The Liverpool Dockers dispute was one of the most significant labour struggles of the late 20th century. For two and a half years, from September 1995 to January 1998, the dockers fought against mass sackings and anti-union laws designed to break solidarity on the waterfront.
The dispute began when five workers employed by Torside Limited were dismissed over an overtime pay disagreement. In a show of solidarity, their colleagues refused to cross the picket line. This led to 80 more sackings. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company then escalated the situation further, dismissing 500 dockers for refusing to cross the Torside picket line. These sackings were later declared illegal under UK labour laws, which at the time were structured to weaken unions and criminalise solidarity.
For 28 months, the Liverpool dockers stood firm. They faced unemployment, hardship, and a hostile legal framework, yet they refused to abandon each other, inspiring trade unionists around the world with their courage and determination.
The exhibition will be on display until 6th October.
News From Nowhere opening hours
Monday – Saturday 10am – 5.30pm
Sunday 11am – 4.30pm