Seamen - The NUS Strike

" In the City of London people make their living by outwitting their neighbours."

If you are a seaman, you survive by depending on the guy working next to you, during atrocious conditions,rough seas, stormy weather, you’ve got to stand by the fellow next to you, you’ve got to stick by people.

Seamen breed a special quality of loyalty because their life depends upon it.

Mik Thought that very few people understand this, and that it built a type of character that was pure gold when the going got tough.

Very little visual evidence can be found regarding the 16 month P&O strike which in many ways was the last stand 'The Alamo' for British Trade Unionists, fighting against Margaret Thatcher's Tory anti-union laws of the 1980's.

This work was dedicated to the seafarers & their families who endured many months of hardship during the dispute.

Birkenhead - Merseyside 1987 - Seafarers arrive to picket MV Peveril owned by The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

National Union of Seamen Office - Paradise Street Liverpool.NUS Meeting, Garston Docks Cafe 1987

Birkenhead - Merseyside 1987

Picket Van - Birkenhead

Striking Seafarer - Birkenhead 1987

Collecting Firewood - Birkenhead

Picket Line - Birkenhead

Brazier - Picket Line Birkenhead

Picket Van - 3am Birkenhead

Seafarer - Picket Van , Birkenhead

Guest House - Dover February 1988

Port of Dover - Eastern Docks - February 1988

Police Line - Dover February 1988

Ferry Terminal - Dover Eastern Docks

Picket Line - Dover February 1988

Halted Lorries - Dover Eastern Docks

Police/Picket Line - Dover Eastern Docks

Red Ensign - Dover Picket Line. Cover Image from Mik's 2013 Publication 'SEAMEN - The NUS Strike 1988 - 1989' Black Diamond Press.

Seafarers - Mass Meeting Dover 1988

Sam McCluskie makes speech to Striking Seafarers

"Not a penny more in pay nor a minute off the working day, just justice, dignity and the public's right to travel in safety". "A company that, in the opinion of many, should have been prosecuted for corporate manslaughter after the Zeebrugge tragedy, used the government’s anti-trade union laws to criminalise a union and its members. Our crime’? Standing up for safety at sea, our members’ dignity and rights hard-won by British seafarers over a century of struggle. Our members in Dover have become the standard bearers in the Trade Union Movement’s fight against the most vicious set of anti-working class laws passed this century’. They are fighting, not for higher pay or shorter hours, but to ensure your right to travel by sea in safety."

Sam McCluskie ( 1932 –1995 )

General Secretary National Union of Seamen (1986 - 1990)

Burning the P&O Flag - Mass Meeting, Dover

Jim Slater - President National Union of Seamen

Striking Seafarers respond to Speeches, Mass Meeting Dover

Seafarers - Picket Line Dover

Seafarer with megaphone - Dover 1988

'Flogged Not Logged' Dover 1988

Waiting for Strike Pay - Dover 1988

Seafarer surprises partner queing for strike pay - Dover 1988.

Mother & Toddler Group

Soup Kitchen/Feeding Centre - Dover Salvation Army Hall

Seafarer and Partner - Soup Kitchen/Feeding Centre Dover Salvation Army Hall.

" We expect to do at least 140 meals today, although we’re only doing one main meal, people can come in at anytime, have a cup of tea/coffee, have a sandwich and a friendly chat. It boosts moral, especially after this length of time on strike. There’s only two of us doing all the cooking, but luckily we’ve got plenty of helpers from the catering side of the business who come in to lend a hand during busy periods. This strike is a bloody disgrace, after all we’ve done for the company, I would love to see Sir Jeffrey Sterling do our job, I bet he’s never had a ‘sweat on’ in his entire life.

- But it just goes to show doesn’t it?

Profits Before People - that’s the name of the game these days."

Cook - Soup Kitchen/Feeding Centre