Rank-and-file organising in the upturn: the industrial strategy of the International Socialists in the UK, 1967-74
About this session
The late 1960s and early 70s saw an enormous industrial upsurge of the working class in Britain. Teachers, dock workers, hospital workers and construction workers engaged in mass strikes, and a coal miners' strike toppled the conservative government in 1974. An important role was played in these struggles by a series of rank-and-file groups launched by the International Socialists, a revolutionary group of a few thousand members. Socialist Alternative industrial organiser Jerome Small has done extensive research on these rank-and-file groups. This session will bring the period to life, looking at rank-and-file newspapers and footage from the period, as well as analysing the strengths and limitations of the "rank-and-file strategy" of the IS at this time.