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Remembering the Islington nursery workers strike 40 years on

Forty years ago this month, a group of nursery workers went on strike.
More than 150 London nursery workers took part in a strike against changes to staff: child ratios, which started 40 years ago this month PHOTO Julia Manning-Morton
More than 150 London nursery workers took part in a strike against changes to staff: child ratios, which started 40 years ago this month PHOTO Julia Manning-Morton

On 16 April 1984, 154 nursery staff from 12 council-run daycare centres in the London borough of Islington began an indefinite strike to try and secure better working conditions for themselves and the children in their care.

An event to commemorate the strike will be held on the eve of the anniversary, with the former strikers and Islington Unison calling for people involved in the strike to reunite and share their experiences with childcare workers and those interested in the issue of childcare today.

Less well known than the miners’ strike, which also started in spring 1984, this strike was carried out by a workforce of diverse, low paid women.

One of the main issues of the strike was the number of children workers were expected to look after. Their demand for a lower ratio was summed up by the slogan ‘I to 4 and not 1 more’, or a maximum ratio of four children to one worker.

The strike in 1984 challenged Islington council and its then leader Margaret Hodge – now Dame Margaret Hodge and one of the longest-serving Labour MPs, and who went on to serve as children's minister under Tony Blair – to improve conditions in council-run nurseries.

During the strike, which lasted nearly four months, the nursery workers picketed, hundreds demonstrated in their support, parents and children occupied the town hall overnight and National Association of Local Government Officers (NALGO – now called UNISON) members in other council departments showed their support by coming out on strike in support of the nursery workers.

After 14 weeks the striking nursery workers were successful in achieving a maximum ratio of 1:4 in council-run nurseries in the borough.

The important issues of pay and of conditions both for staff and children in their care are very much on the agenda for early years and childcare workers today.

The number of children nursery staff can care for was cut last September so that one staff member can be asked to care for five two-year-olds at one time. Meanwhile parents and workers in nearby Hackney are fighting threats of closure to children’s centres.

Early years expert Julia Manning-Morton, who was one of the striking nursery workers in 1984, said, ‘On the anniversary of the strike it’s important to remember that we won better care for the children we looked after as well as improving our own working conditions.

‘With increased ratios and local authority run childcare again facing cuts, it’s clear that children and nursery workers face the same issues today, 40 years on.’

The nursery workers’ strike is set to be remembered through a community history project ‘When the Nursery Workers Said No!’, funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories. 

The organisers of the oral history project said the work of early years practitioners and childcare workers is often undervalued and historically overlooked.  

From September, On the Record will record and share the little-known history of the Islington Nursery Workers Strike, 40 years on.

Participants will co-create the outcomes, which could take the form of a podcast, a piece of theatre for radio, or an audio walk linking the nursery sites.
 

More information

Remembering the Islington Nursery Strike: Discussion and reunion will be held on 15 April from 5:30-8pm at Islington Committee Room 1, Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD. Free refreshments.

Book your space here