Dunnes Stores strike
On 18 July 1984, Mary Manning, a shop worker in the Henry Street, Dublin (Ireland) outlet of Dunnes Stores, refused to handle the sale of grapefruit from South Africa.[1] Her union, IDATU, had issued directions to its members not to handle South African produce in protest of South African apartheid policies. When Manning and shop steward Karen Gearon continued to refuse to handle South African produce, they were suspended and ten IDATU members working in the store went on strike.
At first, the strikers received little support, but they were encouraged when Archbishop Desmond Tutu met with the strikers on his way to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and invited them to visit South Africa. Eight of the strikers travelled to South Africa in 1985, but were not permitted to enter the country. Their deportation from South Africa received extensive news coverage in Ireland.[2]
The strike lasted until April 1987 when the Irish government banned the import of South African goods. The ban came about as a result of public pressure in support of the strikers and was the first complete ban of South African imports by a Western government.[3]
Recognition
The workers eventually met Nelson Mandela on the occasion of his conferral of the Freedom of the City of Dublin in 1990.[4] Mandela said that the strikers demonstrated to South Africans that "ordinary people far away from the crucible of apartheid cared for our freedom"[3] and helped him keep going when he was in prison.[5] A plaque, presented by South African President Thabo Mbeki, commemorating the action was unveiled in Dublin in June, 2008, and a street has been named after Mary Manning in Johannesburg.[4] Manning was invited to attend the funeral of Nelson Mandela in 2013.[4]
Christy Moore sings the song Dunnes Stores written by Sandra Kerr about the strike.[2] In 2014, a documentary about the strike, Blood Fruit, was released.[3]
References
- ^ Dwyer, Ryle (January 1, 2016). "State archives: Dunnes Stores strike demonstrated power of the few". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
- ^ a b Boland, Rosita (December 6, 2013). "How 11 striking Irish workers helped to fight apartheid". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
- ^ a b c Reilly, Jerome (July 5, 2014). "Workers' 'Blood Fruit' fight recalled in film". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
- ^ a b c Bohan, Christine (December 7, 2013). "Dunnes Stores strikers to attend Nelson Mandela's funeral". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Hennessy, Michelle (July 19, 2014). "This day 30 years ago the Dunnes Stores anti-apartheid strike began". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2017-08-26.