1873-2023 In 1973, Bristol Trades Union Council marked its centenary year. Bob Whitfield and the late David Large wrote its history for the Bristol Historical Association and BBC Bristol screened 100 Years of Struggle, a film produced by the Council and directed by Colin Thomas. Now, in 2023, to celebrate the Trades Council’s 150th anniversary, Colin has brought the story up-to-date. This booklet incorporates the BHA pamphlet, extracts from the BBC film and an update on the last fifty years.
100 Years of Struggle (30 mins) is a film made in 1973 to mark the centenary of the Bristol Trades Union Council. Although it was transmitted by BBC Bristol, it was produced and narrated by members of the Council. Each of them linked key events in the past - in 1873, 1892, 1914 and 1926 - to the industrial and political struggles of the time when the documentary was made.
100 Years of Struggle is an unusual documentary made to mark the centenary of the Bristol Trades Union Council (BTUC) in 1973. Although it was transmitted by BBC Bristol, it was produced by the BTUC at a time when some organisations outside the Corporation were allowed to use BBC resources to have their own say. It was written, researched and presented by members of the BTUC and will be introduced by its director Colin Thomas.
Sheila Caffrey will talk about some of the picket lines and broader campaigns seen in Bristol in the last couple of years, and some of the bigger protests and how these have also affected the mood e.g. Black Lives Matter and COP-26, and the role Trades Unions have (or could have!) played in these. Sheila Caffrey is an active trade unionist in Bristol. She first got involved with Bristol Trades Council 15 years ago, after becoming a teacher and a campaigner in the National Union of Teachers […]
