Roberts-Arundel Strike Committee papers

Records of strike at Roberts Arundel in Stockport - In July 1965 the Roberts group acquired the old Arundel Coulthard and its subsidiaries and changed name to Roberts-Arundel in Aug 1965. In November the company engaged women workers after having made male workers redundant. A failure to agree was registered and the company was requested not to hire any more women workers until dispute progressed as laid down in Procedures in Engineering Agreement. However the company engaged two more women and negotiations broke down on 28 Nov 1966, with claim that company in breach of national agreement. Strike was made official on 6 Dec. Company resigned from Employers Association and firm's products blacked by AEU and supplies blacked by other unions. Strike called over basic issues of union recognition and collective bargaining. An agreement was almost reached which would have meant men being re-employed as work became available in Sep 1967 but broke down when union insisted that all men be re-employed. Terms were agreed in Apr 1968 but production had ceased in Jan. The Union claimed a victory on the principle of union recognition and collective bargaining but only 12 men were re-employed and 57 remaining strikers were made redundant. The strike lasted 532 days

The National Archives holds official records relating to the strike at LAB 10/2966 and LAB 10/3290

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