IN THE fight against today’s anti-union laws and other battles to defend public services and jobs, the Pentonville Five victory of 1972 is regularly cited as an example of how workers can win.

Its importance is increasingly being recognised in analysis of our history. It recognises that, like all our struggles, it was built on the back of years of hard organising and battling.

But it is also important to understand what really happened, it’s essential rank-and-file nature, what the ruling class learnt from it and how Pentonville can give us practical inspiration today.

In the blazing hot summer of 1972, London dockers became the centre of national and international attention. Five shop stewards — Vic Turner, Bernie Steer, Connie (Cornelius) Clancy, Derek Watkins and Tony Merrick — were sent to Pentonville Prison for picketing in their fight to preserve jobs.

After decades of battling and winning proper employment contracts (previously, dockers had been hired casually each day — true zero-hour contracts), they faced employers using the introduction of containers to try to move work away from the docks.

It meant employers imposing lower pay and conditions outside the docks. The question arose, as relevant today as then, in whose interests were these changes and would they be introduced?

This all happened in the middle of union massive resistance to the anti-union laws brought in by Ted Heath’s Tory government in 1971.

The previous Labour government had tried to do the same with the In Place of Strife white paper but this had been defeated.

The Liaison Committee in Defence of Trade Unions played a crucial role in developing solidarity among rank-and-file trade unionists.

The late 1960s and early ’70s saw an explosion of radical actions by workers across Britain — like the Upper Clyde shipbuilders’ work-in; the occupation by the Fakenham women workers; a national campaign by engineering workers, including occupations; the Briant printers’ work-in and a highly successful miners’ strike.

Workers had increased their proportion of GDP. This saw the employing class pushing for unions to be curbed, particularly shop stewards. At the same time in Ireland there had been internment and in January 1972, Bloody Sunday in Derry.

The Pentonville Five were arrested for picketing depots like Chobham Farm (near London’s Stratford station) and Midland Cold Storage in Hackney (owned by millionaire Lord Vestey) after a court order demanded they stop doing so.

Four of the dockers were arrested on July 21. Turner was arrested the next day outside Pentonville Prison, where he had joined in the demonstrations for their release.

Immediately, dockers across Britain walked out of work. Other workers walked out to show support for the five. Building sites, printers in Fleet Street (the centre of British newspapers at that time), transport workers and car workers joined in also.

For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, trade unionists assembled outside Pentonville, singing and chanting. The TUC went on to call for a national stoppage the following week. Massive marches went to the prison and more and more workers went on strike in support of the arrested trade unionists.

Within a week the Tories saw such massive opposition across the country that they were forced to back down. To spare government blushes, a largely unknown figure emerged, the official solicitor (usually used to assist children and the mentally vulnerable), to help arrange the Pentonville Five’s release.

The men walked out the gates of Pentonville on July 26 to meet a jubilant mass demonstration that had arrived at the prison. They addressed the crowd, clutching much-appreciated bottles of beer in their hands.

“It was a great victory for ordinary people standing together, workers standing shoulder to shoulder,” reflected Turner in 2012. “That’s what we need to defend the NHS and public services today and to remove the shackles on workers trying to save jobs.”

This key chapter in working-class history — a chapter in the same line of struggle from Tolpuddle through to so many other battles — is being celebrated tomorrow at East Ham Working Men’s Club (in Boleyn Road, London E6 1QE) from 6pm with Unite general secretary Len McCluskey; Ann Field from Unite GPM & IT Sector; film-maker Ken Loach; Brian Holmes, a dock activist at Pentonville, and other surprise speakers.

As well as celebrating the 45th anniversary of this key victory, the event will mark the passing of Turner and Clancy as well as examining the lessons to be learnt for the fight against even more draconian anti-union laws today.

For more information on the Pentonville Five 45 year anniversary celebration of release visit: mstar.link/Pentonville5.