On Monday 16 April 1984 155 nursery workers employed by Islington Council began an indefinite strike. Their industrial action was sparked by understaffing in the nurseries, which meant there was often an unsafe ratio of children to staff. The strike lasted fifteen weeks, during which time all twelve council-run Children’s Day Centres were closed. The strikers returned to work on 30 July 1984, having won real improvements in the Children’s Day Centres.

Discover this important history told here for the first time. Made by a group of present-day nursery workers, parents, carers and campaigners, these podcasts tell the story of how the nursery workers fought for better conditions for both themselves and the children in their care.

Episode 1 sets the scene for the nursery worker strike, explaining what life in the nurseries was like in the early 1980s and how the nursery workers took the decision to go on strike.

Written and produced by Karen Fischer, Jo Harrison and Angela Mascolo.

Interviews were with, Julia Manning Morton, Karen Reeve, Terry Conway, Ivor Kallin, David Saltiel, Veronica Speirs and Karen Quinn.

The poem 1984 was written and performed by Ivor Kallin.

Sound design by Hannah Kemp - Welch.

Nursery Workers Bite Back was made as part of ‘When the Nursery Workers Said No’, a project run by Rosa Schling for On the Record, funded by Historic England.

Thank you to all the strikers, all the group members and the Parent House for hosting us.

Find out more at https://childcarehistory.org.uk/

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