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Back to topIn January 1986, a momentous industrial dispute began after Rupert Murdoch, owner of the The Sun, News of the World, The Times and Sunday Times, plotted to move production of his newspapers overnight from central London’s Fleet Street to a secretly-equipped and heavily guarded plant at Wapping, a docklands district to the east.
Following Murdoch’s demand for changes in working conditions to be included in the move to the new plant, workers in print unions SOGAT and NGA balloted for strike action in defence of their rights. As soon as the strike was declared, five and a half thousand striking workers were sacked using legislation brought in by the Thatcher government.
Murdoch negotiated a deal with the electricians’ union, EETPU to staff the new plant with their members, and over the next year print unions and their allies carried out a campaign to attempt to shut down the printing and distribution of News International titles. This included pickets and mass demonstrations against the plant itself, as well as targeting the private, un-unionised distribution company, TNT.
The workers who were sacked by Murdoch’s News International companies were never reinstated with many suffering long-term consequences, and trade union recognition has not been restored.
The Wapping dispute, as it became known, was a revolution in Fleet Street. It brought to an end centuries of tradition in one of London’s last manufacturing industries and had international ramifications for Murdoch’s own burgeoning press and broadcasting empire in the United States and around the world. Within a few years the major newspaper and news organisations had left Fleet Street. It all took place during a turbulent period in Britain’s post-war history as a Tory government led by Margaret Thatcher presided over an economic, political and social upheaval.
News International Dispute Archive
The News International Dispute Archive (NIDA), within the MML Printworkers’ Collection, is made up of material from the Wapping Dispute created and collected by workers and print union officials who were involved in it. Other material on the dispute is included throughout the Printworkers’ Collection. NIDA can be browsed on our catalogue, it is divided into sections on the right of the page which can be clicked on to bring up more information.
One of the richest parts of NIDA is the section on organisation by print trade unions. This is complimented by archives in the Printworkers Collection on Shoe Lane Progressives and the SOGAT London Machine Branch which include their own organising and activity during the dispute.
NIDA includes a number of significant contemporary items from the dispute, including the dismissal letters handed to workers at the announcement of strike action. Letters were handed to workers as they left the workplace on Friday 24th January 1986, the same day strike action was announced. Identical letters were handed to union members arriving for their shift the following Monday 27th January, and soon after workers on holiday or sick leave were delivered dismissal letters by post as the company decided they were likely to take part in strike action.
The collection includes a large number of leaflets and stickers on the dispute, promoting hardship funds, demonstrations and the campaign to boycott News International papers. Also included are leaflet reproductions of the infamous Farrer’s Letter – a letter from company solicitors, Farrer’s, advising that the easiest way to dismiss the workforce would be to provoke strike action and take advantage of new anti-trade union legislation to sack for breach of contract. The letter was uncovered and published by the Morning Star shortly after the start of the dispute and was subsequently used by print unions in their publicity around the dispute.
The dispute was known for publications by sacked workers who made use of their knowledge of newspaper production to make their own papers and bulletins throughout the dispute. Most significant amongst these was the Wapping Post, which ran throughout and beyond the strike. The collection includes not only a complete run of the paper, but its administrative papers showing drafts and designs for content, as well as the organisation of the papers production and distribution. Another significant bulletin in the collection is Picket, and also included are pamphlets produced by workers and their supporters such as Liberation Christinanity on the Wapping Picket Line, and Paper Boys.
People involved in the dispute
The library holds collections relating to individuals involved in the dispute, including sacked workers (Brian Browning, Billy Osborne, John Bailey, Joyce Moss, Jean Sargeant, Tony Hall), union officials (Megan Dobney) and residents (Nic Oatridge).
Notes on an interview with Mike Hicks, a well known union official in the dispute, includes information on his arrest and imprisonment during Wapping.
Photos
The Printworkers Collections holds number of photos of the dispute, illustrating picket lines, demonstrations and police attacks, and photos can also be found in the MML Photo Collection.
Publications
Printworkers Collection library contains a number of publications on Wapping, and the development of the print and media industry before and since. Amongst these are two essential books on the history of the dispute, the only publications by workers themselves: Bad News and Wapping The Great Printing Dispute.
Discussion on Wapping is including in journals of the trade unions involved in the dispute - Print (NGA) and the SOGAT Journal. These include articles on the wider impact on the industry, and reporting on similar disputes from the period.
Reporting from the time can be found in the library's complete run of The Morning Star.
MML Wapping at 40
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the dispute, MML held an all day event on 24th January 2026. Videos of the discussions are available on our website:
The Wapping Dispute: An Introduction
Remembering the Dispute in Our Archives