Tony Burke, assistant general secretary of Unite, said the events of 25 years ago – when Mr Murdoch, with the help of Margaret Thatcher Government and the Metropolitan Police, moved from Fleet Street to a non-union shop at Wapping – had “a direct bearing” on the current phone hacking scandal surrounding News International.
He said: “The Wapping dispute was not about technology. It was a project planned and designed to break the print unions and the National Union of Journalists which had acted as a brake on News International’s right-wing agenda. The resources of the state, including the Metropolitan Police, were put at his disposal by Thatcher’s Government. Finally, 42 years after Murdoch bought the News of the World, the full scale of his malign and corrosive influence on journalism and trade
Mr Burke was joined on the platform by Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, and veteran socialist Tony Benn.
A 25th anniversary exhibition about Wapping, one of the key industrial disputes in modern times, moves to Congress House from July 25 to August 12.
Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: “The story of Murdoch’s moonlight flit to Wapping is one that needs to be remembered. It is a story of betrayal, connivance and the use of force against working people, but it is also a story of solidarity, determination and ingenuity in the face of massive odds. It is also a reminder of the lengths to which Murdoch and News International have gone to get their way to extend their empire and influence, brooking no opposition from workers or politicians. ”
