Ulster Workers' Council

It's almost like...

Well, it reminds me a wee bit, you know, I suppose at the moment anyway, of the Ulster Workers' Council strike, which was, you know, it took place in 1974 and it was more effective because it had the organised crime group and the unionists, or the loyalists, organised crime group and the UDA kind of behind it, as again, you know, the orange fist.

that could be brought in and poured out on the streets and of course this was how unionism explored it um it's working class communities but then you know in the fall of 1977 where the workers council tried to organize another strike uh they weren't supported um by UDA UVF um vanguard and the the strike basically collapsed as it were it didn't say it definitely didn't have the same impact as the 74 one and maybe you know it'll be interesting to see how John crani unfolds that it when it doesn't have um the the support as it were of the organized crime group and so who are supposed are too busy um with their own activities uh oppressing their own communities exploiting their own communities selling drugs uh dealing drugs you know usual extortion rackets etc etc they have their um business portfolios they're busy looking after those and they don't want to probably become embroiled and all this debacle but you may have some aspects of those kind of bizarre black hooded neo-nazi figures uh who was saw during the so-called anti-immigration uh protests and violence and maybe some of those will appear because I know there's okay there's perceived to be a relationship between some um mainstream political or mainstream politicians and those sort of uh right-wing thugs uh for one of a better word again as i said it's interesting to see that the whole kind of duality unfold um i suppose through the media uh where you have maybe the orange order um being shown maybe in prayer deep in prayer um and then you know the contrast that you have maybe thousands on the gravaki road and there's um you know they've organized maybe music um it's almost like a festival um they kind of keep up the morale of the local people but it's that duality where uh again the orange order seems to be just i don't know present almost presents itself as wholly antiquated um where you know that this kind of prayer knew for god and ulster and and quite quiet solemnity which is i suppose is in essence part of protestantism and you know the stoicness um and again you know just no we have the letter of the law we have the right to walk with it and you know and a big challenge and the psni and and a game have you know I suppose unions can't help itself because it was the same during uh the parade and disputes uh of con you know controversial marches and contentious marches uh back during the 90s uh and even before that the um 86 and stuff where it was oh our kind of position or our attitude towards the Royal Ulster Constabulary has greatly changed and that you know why I that impacted on me personally because as I said it was put out of my home because um we wouldn't let as an organization uh uh we wouldn't allow certain parades to go through certain areas or we stopped certain parades um going through uh areas where um i guess basically they weren't they weren't welcomed So, you know, we bore the brunt of that, you know, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

And we weren't, you know, it was quickly, well, as if Union said, well, we're not your friends anymore.

Then came Friday the 17th of May 1974, day three of the Ulster Workers Council strike.

That day found divided councils in the UWC beginning to surface.

The also worker council members, all trade unionists, many war veterans suffered the same affliction that most Belfast people suffer, lack of confidence.

He was pleased to note that the Office of Workers' Council did not want to cause any further hardship and that the best way to achieve this was simply to return to work.

Rees does not recall any of this in his memoirs, by the way.

Utterly deflated, Brian Garrett dejectedly returned to the Ulster Workers Council members on Huffington Road.

The reaction he got was not what we expected.

And Fisk concisely describes the scene, writing that Garrett found Barr, Harry Murray, Andy Terry, Ken Gibson and Bill Craig and the rest in session in a packed room.