On This Day in Working Class History

Mini podcast episode about this date in history, 21 March 1991, when the abolition of the poll tax in the UK was announced, following a mass non-payment campaign and widespread rioting. The hated tax, introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, charged the working class the same as the rich as there was a charge for every individual in a household. 
Despite the defeat of the working class movement in Britain in the 1980s, people up and down the country self-organised an unprecedented campaign which resulted in over 17 million people refusing to pay, with thousands of people clogging the country's court system. 
First, the movement brought down Thatcher herself, leading to her resignation in November 1990. The new government then announced the abolition of the tax. It was later replaced by the council tax, which charged rates based on house value. 
Learn about the movement against the poll tax in episodes 110-111 of our podcast: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e110-111-poll-tax-revolt/

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On 20 March 2013 workers for the Azores-based SATA airline (now renamed Azores Airlines) and TAP Air Portugal called off a three-day strike which was scheduled for the following day.
7000 workers including pilots and support staff were due to walk out in protest against scheduled pay cuts of between 3.5 and 10%.
The strike was cancelled, when according to union officials, management agreed to all of the workers' demands.

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 19 March 1968, more than 1,000 students at the historically Black Howard University began an occupation of the administration building that shut down the school.  
The protests were spurred by the planned expulsion of 37 fellow activists and went on to demand student involvement in disciplinary procedures, a more developed African-American studies curriculum, and the resignation of the university president. 
After four days, the takeover ended with the administration granting all but the resignation.
More: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9122/howard-university-occupation

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 18 March 1834 the British Tolpuddle martyrs — James Brine, James Hammett, George Loveless, James Loveless, John Standfield, and Thomas Standfield — were sentenced to 7 years' transportation to Australia for attempting to organise a union. They had been trying to fight pay cuts for agricultural workers, but were shipped to Australia in appalling conditions. However the draconian sentences provoked a public outcry, and a mass campaign in their support eventually forced the King to pardon them. 
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9015/tolpuddle-martyrs-sentenced

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
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If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On this day, 17 March 1916, around half of the 12,000 women working at the Armstrong-Whitworth Elswick munitions factory in Newcastle went on strike for better pay. It was the biggest strike by women arms workers during World War I to date. Authorities were taken aback by the women's "great determination and cohesion", and a Ministry of Munitions' wage tribunal was swiftly held and resolved in the workers' favour, awarding all workers a pay increase on 24 March. In the aftermath of the action, Elswick hired a "welfare supervisor", along with 40 assistants, whose job was to try to break up organisation of women workers' at the plant. The supervisor, Miss Jayne, took over all hiring and supervision of women workers, and used more middle-class and "educated" women like former teachers and university graduates to supervise the unruly workers. However, the measures had limited success as the confidence of the workers had been massively increased, and they began threatening strike action on future occasions to improve their conditions. In 1917 the women walked out en masse once more winning union recognition, tea breaks and new toilets amongst other things. Numerous other employers in Britain also recruited "welfare supervisors" at the same time to try to stop strikes by women workers, although after the war ended and many women were pushed out of the workforce once more the practice stopped.
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8905/armstrong-whitworth-women-strike

Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.
See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today
Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date
Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com
Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com
If you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History