GCHQ 40: the ban on trade unions in 1984
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IN 1984 no-one had heard of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the government’s then-secret intelligence-gathering centre — let alone that the staff were represented by trade unions.
All that changed on January 25 1984, when Margaret Thatcher’s government announced its decision to impose a total ban on trade union membership at GCHQ.
The decision came without warning or consultation, and it provoked a sustained campaign unparalleled in modern labour history. It ended in 1997 when, in one of its first decisions, the Labour government overturned the ban.
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BEN CHACKO sees an exhibition that charts the memorable struggle to have union rights restored to workers at the intelligence hub GCHQ in Cheltenham
PCS leader FRAN HEATHCOTE draws the parallels between a major trade union rights battle 40 years ago and the fight we have ahead of us today
NICK WRIGHT revisits the events of 40 years ago and the battle to overcome the ban on trade unions at the government’s communications and eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham
