Abstract
The wave of strikes in both the public and private sector against the 5 per cent Stage IV policy proved economically damaging and politically disastrous for the government. The widely held view that a Labour Government meant less industrial disruption than a Conservative Government turned out to have been a myth. The extent of the strikes, both in the length of their duration and in their individual bitterness, was the most acute since 1926.
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Notes and References
For two excellent accounts of civil service privilege see David Porter ‘Is the Civil Servant a Public Enemy?’, Guardian (13 March 1979), and Your Disobedient Servant by Leslie Chapman (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979).
Jack Jones, The Human Face of Labour (London: BBC Publications, 1977) p. 7.
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© 1985 Dr. Martin Holmes
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Holmes, M. (1985). The Winter of Discontent. In: The Labour Government, 1974–79. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07201-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07201-9_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-07203-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-07201-9
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