Filmmaker Morag Livingstone with David Condliffe of the CWU and Joe Rollin from Unite
The story of striking postal workers in Stoke-on-Trent is featured in a new film about industrial disputes.
Belonging: The Truth Behind the Headlines covers the row between members of the Communication Workers' Union and Royal Mail in 2007/08.
The CWU took industrial action in support of 12 colleagues at Burslem depot who had been suspended over allegations of bullying and harassment. Their dispute was eventually resolved in January 2008, after Royal Mail addressed their concerns.
Filmmaker Morag Livingstone came to Stoke-on-Trent to interview members of the 'Burslem 12' and CWU reps for her documentary.
Trade union members and Labour activists, including former Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley, who was closely involved in the dispute, attended Belonging's Stoke-on-Trent premiere at the Mitchell Art Centre in Hanley on Thursday.
The film also features the Wapping print workers strike in the 1980s, and the more recent action by dockers at Grangemouth in Scotland.
Ms Livingstone says all three disputes demonstrates the movement away from collectivism in British society over the last four decades, which she believes has been to the detriment of working people.
She said: “When I was told about the Burslem 12 the way they had been treated didn't sit right with me. The more I learnt about their story and the background the more I felt that these people had been treated appallingly.
“I believed their voices needed to be heard. What happened to them was representative of the removal of collectivism in the workplace and the move towards the idea that only profit matters.
"I came to Stoke-on-Trent in 2014 and 2015 to interview the members of the Burslem 12. They are all still close friends - and the fact that they are close is the point I am making about what workplaces used to be like.
"The music I used in the film was actually written by some of the postal workers. They learnt they could write music during their dispute. It was one way they responded to what was happening to them."
The Burslem 12 were suspended after being accused of bullying by a part-time colleague. But they claimed the action was an attempt to remove union leadership.
CWU members went on strike for several weeks over the Christmas period in 2007, meaning the Royal Mail had to draft in hundreds of managers to ensure deliveries would be made during their busiest time of the year.
Trade unionists from as far away as Scotland and Southampton took part in a march through Stoke-on-Trent to show solidarity with the striking CWU members.
The dispute eventually ended when both sides agreed to a settlement which included an independent review and Royal Mail accepting that striking workers would not have their holiday entitlement cut.
Five of the Burslem 12 were eventually sacked. Four of these attempted to win their jobs back through an employment tribunal but were unsuccessful.
David Condliffe worked for the local CWU branch during the dispute, and was involved in the making of the film.
Mr Condliffe, who now lives in London, believes it was important that the postal workers' story was told to a wider audience.
He said: "This was the longest running strikes in North Staffordshire since the miners' strike. What happened back then was part of the movement towards the privatisation of the Royal Mail and the decline of standards in the workplace."
Copies of the film can be ordered from the official Belonging website at http://www.belonging4us.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;