3.3) The Early Eighties
In the 1980s we witnessed a Government hell-bent on destroying Usdaw and the rest of the Trade Union Movement.
The successful campaign to
save the doorstep pinta
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Usdaw's emergence as a Campaigning Union saw members demonstrating on a wider range of issues than ever before.
Sunday trading was again in the spotlight. Usdaw gave detailed evidence to the Auld Committee of Inquiry and mounted a massive campaign to stop a Sunday free-for-all.
Another highly publicised and successful campaign to save the doorstep pinta gained massive public support whilst Government moves to dilute the power of the Wages Councils, and threats to axe them altogether, saw Usdaw members united in action once more.
Usdaw members joined fellow trade unionists to demonstrate their total opposition to the Government's Employment and Trade Union Acts. They campaigned on behalf of the unemployed, GCHQ workers, nurses, etc, while their generosity in providing food for striking miners' families was second to none.
The participation of women in the Union took on a new prominence. A working party to examine their role was formed and its recommendation to set up a network of women's committees was put into operation.
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