Editing Wapping (section)

==Wapping dispute==
{{Main|Wapping dispute}}
The "Wapping dispute" or "Battle of Wapping" was, along with the [[miners' strike of 1984–85]], a significant turning point in the history of the [[trade union]] movement and of UK industrial relations. It started on 24 January 1986 when some 6,000 newspaper workers went on strike after protracted negotiation with their employer, [[News International]] (parent of Times Newspapers and News Group Newspapers, and chaired by [[Rupert Murdoch]]). News International had built and clandestinely equipped a new printing plant for all its titles in Wapping, and when the print unions announced a strike it activated this new plant with the assistance of the [[Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union]] (EETPU).

The plant was nicknamed "Fortress Wapping" when the sacked print workers effectively besieged it, mounting round-the-clock pickets and blockades in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to thwart the move. In 2005, News International announced the intention to move the print works to regional presses based in [[Broxbourne]] (the world's largest printing plant, opened March 2008),<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7299941.stm|title=World's biggest print plant opens|date=17 March 2008|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> [[Liverpool]] and [[Glasgow]]. The editorial staff were to remain, however, and there was talk of redeveloping the sizeable plot that makes up the printing works.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/02/09/cnmurd09.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/02/09/ixcitytop.html ''Daily Telegraph Money'' 9 February 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311060434/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fmoney%2F2006%2F02%2F09%2Fcnmurd09.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=%2Fmoney%2F2006%2F02%2F09%2Fixcitytop.html |date=11 March 2007 }} accessed 5 May 2007</ref>