Timeline of strikes in 1975

A number of labour strikes, labour disputes, and other industrial actions occurred in 1975.

Background

A labour strike is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. This can include wildcat strikes, which are done without union authorisation, and slowdown strikes, where workers reduce their productivity while still carrying out minimal working duties. It is usually a response to employee grievances, such as low pay or poor working conditions. Strikes can also occur to demonstrate solidarity with workers in other workplaces or pressure governments to change policies.

Timeline

Continuing strikes from 1974

• 1973–76 LIP strikes, at the LIP in France.^[1][2]

January

• 1975 Glasgow rubbish strike, 13-week strike by waste collectors in Glasgow, Scotland.^[3][4]
• 1975–80 Sonacotra rent strike, rent strike by immigrant workers in France.^[5]

February

• Limazo, police strike and attempted coup d'état in Lima, Peru.
• 1975 McDonnell Douglas strike, 85-day strike by McDonnell Douglas workers in the United States.^[6][7]
• 1975 Renault strike, in France.^[8][9]

March

• 1975 Dong-A Ilbo strike, strike by The Dong-A Ilbo journalists in South Korea.^[10]

April

• 1975 Greek journalists strike^[11][12]

May

• 1975–77 Le Parisien Libéré strike, 29-month strike by Le Parisien Libéré printers in France.^[13][14]
• 1975 Mauritian student protests
• 1975 University of Papua New Guinea strike, student strike ahead of the independence of Papua New Guinea from Australia calling for the removal of Elizabeth II as Monarch of Papua New Guinea.^[15][16]

June

• General strike in Argentina in response to the Rodrigazo policies.
• Occupation of Saint-Nizier church by Lyon prostitutes

July

August

• 1975 Belgian boatmens' strike^[17][18]
• 1975 Melbourne printers' strike^[19][20]
• 1975 San Francisco police strike
• 1975 Westclox strike, 4-week strike by Westclox workers in Peru, Illinois, United States.^[21]

September

• 1975 Broadway strike, 1-month strike by Broadway theatre musicians in the United States.^[22][23]
• 1975 Corsican general strike, general strike in Corsica demanding home rule^[24][25]
• 1975 National Airlines strike, 127-day strike by National Airlines flight attendants in the United States.^[26][27]

October

• 1975 Cook County Hospital strike, 18-day strike by doctors at Cook County Hospital in the United States, one of the longest doctors strikes in American history at that point.^[28][29]
• 1975 Icelandic women's strike, 1-day strike by almost the entire female population of Iceland against the gender pay gap and occupational sexism.
• 1975 La Tondeña Distillery strike
• 1975 Steggles strike, 2-week strike by women Steggles Pty Ltd workers in Australia over wages and working conditions.^[30][31]
• 1975 UK junior doctors' strike^[32][33]
• 1975 University of Pennsylvania strike, 6-week strike by University of Pennsylvania machinists and maintenance workers in the United States.^[34]
• 1975–1976 Washington Post pressmen's strike

November

• 1975 Japanese public sector strike, 8-day strike by Japanese public sector workers calling for the right to strike, one of the largest strikes in Japanese history at that point.^[35][36]
• 1975 New Haven teachers' strike^[37]
• 1975 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines teachers' strike, 1-month strike by teachers in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.^[38][39]

December

• 1975–1976 Pittsburgh teachers' strike^[40][41]

Changes in legislation

In May, the Francoist dictatorship in Spain dictatorship announced that it would legalise the right to strike in limited cases. Strikes had previously been banned since the dictatorship seized power in 1939.^[42]

In November, Filippino dictator Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 823, prohibiting all forms of strike action in the Philippines.^[43]

References

1. Leprince, Chloé (11 June 2023). "Occupation, séquestration, auto-gestion : en 1973, la grève des Lip c'est d'abord "un boulot monumental"". FranceCulture. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
2. Boulouque, Sylvain (28 July 2023). "Grèves, occupation, autogestion: l'histoire des Lip célébrée dans deux ouvrages". Slate. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
3. Duffy, Amy (29 August 2022). "Glasgow's rubbish strikes of 1975 that kicked up a stink for 13 weeks". Glasgow Live. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
4. "Rats Fought in Glasgow During Garbage Strike". The New York Times. 20 March 1975. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
5. Dedieu, Jean-Philippe; Mbodj-Pouye, Aissatou (28 September 2015). "The first collective protest of black African migrants in postcolonial France (1960–1975): a struggle for housing and rights". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 39 (6): 958–975. doi:10.1080/01419870.2015.1081964. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
6. Delaney, Paul (16 February 1975). "Striking Machinists Firm Despite Potential Hardship". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
7. "STRIKE PACT SET AT PLANE CONCERN". The New York Times. 7 May 1975. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
8. "Renault". Institut national de l'audiovisuel. 21 March 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
9. Lyon-Caen, Gérard (5 December 1975). "Renault 75 : l'après-grève". Le Monde. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
10. "Seoul Paper Ends Newsmen's Strike By Evicting Them". The New York Times. 18 March 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
11. "News Brief". The Straits Times. 7 May 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
12. "Cinq cents journalistes athéniens poursuivent leur grève". Le Monde. 13 May 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
13. "PARIS NEWSPAPER STRIKE ENDS AFTER 29 MONTHS". The New York Times. 17 August 1977. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
14. "28 mois de grève : quand les salariés du "Parisien libéré" tentaient de survivre dans le conflit". FranceCulture. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
15. Kini, Friend (29 May 1975). "Campus In Confusion Over Strike". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
16. "Students Agree To Go Back To Work". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 30 May 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
17. "Un drame marque la grève des mariniers belges". Journal du Jura. 9 October 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
18. de Vos, Pierre (11 October 1975). "La longue grève des bateliers belges a des répercussions graves sur le trafic français". Le Monde. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
19. Heekeren, Margaret (1 January 2014). "STRIKES (JOURNALISTS' AND PRINTERS')". A Companion to the Australian Media. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
20. "MELBOURNE PRINTERS STRIKE". Tribune. 26 August 1975. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
21. "Westclox Plant Strike Ends". The New York Times. 8 September 1975. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
22. McFadden, Robert D. (19 September 1975). "9 Broadway Theaters Are Shut As Musicians Begin a Walkout". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
23. Mandelbaum, Ken (3 November 2004). "Looking Back: '75-'76". Broadway Buzz. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
24. de Barrin, Jacques (2 September 1975). "L'ordre de grève est unanimement suivi en Corse L'ÎLE AU RALENTI". Le Monde. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
25. "Corsicans Stage More Attacks, Criticize 'Colonial' Treatment". The New York Times. 3 September 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
26. "National Airlines Struck by Attendants". The New York Times. 1 September 1975. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
27. "National Airlines Settles Walkout After 127 Days". The New York Times. 5 January 1976. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
28. Delaney, Paul (9 November 1975). "Chicago Hospital Strikers Under Pressure to End Longest Walkout by Doctors". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
29. "House staff at Cook County Hospital in longest physicians' strike in nation's history". Trustee. 28 (12): 31. 28 December 1975. PMID 10238220. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
30. "Women Strike For Wage Rise And Human Rights". Tribune. 22 October 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
31. "WOMEN PROCESS WORKERS GAIN FROM TWO WEEK STRIKE STRUGGLE". Tribune. 29 October 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
32. Saunders, Jack (8 February 2016). "When do doctors' strikes end? A perspective from 1975". People's History of the NHS. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
33. Rao, Tony (13 November 2015). "Five things doctors should know about the 1975 junior doctors' strike". BMJ. 351: h6155. doi:10.1136/bmj.h6155. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
34. Seidman, Gay (2 December 1975). "Penn Strikers Return to Work, Reach Compromise Settlement". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
35. "La plus grande grève de l'histoire japon". L'Impartial. 26 November 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
36. Halloran, Richard (4 December 1975). "Japanese Unions Yield and Halt Strike". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
37. Fellows, Lawrence (25 November 1975). "New Haven Strike Ends; Jailed Teachers Freed". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
38. "The 1975 Teachers' Strike – Some Reminiscences". Searchlight. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
39. John, Kenneth (16 November 2018). "A Roll-Call of 1975 Teacher-Heroes". The Vincentian. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
40. "Strike by Pittsburgh Teachers Ends With $19 Million in Raises". The New York Times. 27 January 1976. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
41. Shelton, Jon (15 March 2017). The Pittsburgh Teacher Strike of 1975–76 and the Crisis of the Labor-Liberal Coalition. Vol. 1. University of Illinois Press. doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252040870.003.0006. ISBN 978-0-252-04087-0. Retrieved 7 December 2024. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
42. "Spain to Legalize Strikes by Labor After 36-Year Ban". The New York Times. 10 May 1975. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
43. Marcos, Ferdinand (3 November 1975). "PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 823 November 3, 1975". The LawPhil Project. Retrieved 20 December 2024.