Directing
The miners' strikes, struggles and way of life are celebrated as the vital part of Britain's trade union movement.
Documentary examining what it means to live in South Wales, made in collaboration with and focusing on the lives of the Butts family. Explores the effects of complex historical forces on industry, family, work, education and learning.
hands off student unions supports the students’ struggle to preserve the autonomy of their union from the conditions of state control embodied in Thatcher’s education proposals. It includes footage of demonstrations in Oxford, Birmingham and Brighton; talking heads of various student activists; a section dealing with the role of students in late capitalist society; various speakers addressing mass meetings; a solidarity speech by Clive Jenkins (ASTMS) plus an interview with Alain Krivine, French Trotskyist leader in May ’68.
An analysis and chronicle of the power struggle in Northern Ireland. Shows the barricaded resistance zone of Free Derry in August 1969, gives instances of the contradiction between labour and describes the movement towards the realisation of a socialist workers' republic.
A campaign film supporting the dockers’ fight against redundancy, lay-offs and wage cuts caused by containerisation. The film charts the struggle against ruthless rationalisation, profiteering and land speculation, police harassment of pickets and finally the enforcement of the Industrial Relations Act by the arrest and jailing of the Pentonville 5. A series of massive solidarity demonstrations followed which freed the pickets and effectively destroyed the Act. The film includes footage of police harassment, dockers successfully calling on Fleet Street printworkers to strike in solidarity and the release of the five jailed dockers.
A documentary made with shipyard workers during the occupation and work-in at the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders from July 1971 to October 1972. The yards were occupied and managed by a joint shop stewards’ committee after the government announced the decision to liquidate the company. The film includes footage from the ‘inside’ of organising, work, discussions, high-level negotiations, relations between the shop stewards and union officials and dealings with the press. Music by 7:84 and The Laggan.
Made as part of the compaign against the Industrial Relations Bill. A trade unionist talks about the crisis he sees in the working classes. The importance of basic trade union practice and the need to defend the right to have independent trade unions is illustrated by shop stewards.
A campaign film against GLC attempts to raise council rents. Includes: footage of tenants’ demonstrations; tenants’ meetings at which report-backs are given on the proportion of tenants in various areas withholding rents in protest; burning effigy of Horace Cutler, Tory leader of GLC; T&GWU support for tenants’ demonstration, under pressure from membership (porters).
The UCS struggle is a campaign film supporting the fight to retain their jobs by the workers at Upper Clyde Shipyards who developed a new weapon for waging this fight – the occupation and the work-in. The film was screened at the time at meetings attended overall by 25,000 workers. It includes a speech by Jimmy Reid.
