The Wapping Riots

The twelve-month dispute between News International, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and the print union was a lengthy and bitter battle. Protests centred on working conditions and the move from Fleet Street to cheaper premises in Wapping, East London. The picketing was exceptionally violent, with over 1000 arrests and more than 400 police injuries. This drawing depicts a riot which took place on 3 May 1986.

The incident involved running battles between protestors and police outside the News International's new printing plant in Wapping. Police officers with riot shields advance towards protesters who retreat over railings, while a fallen man stretches out his arm in a plea for help. In the background, mounted police wheel round an arc of barricades and advance towards protestors.

During the strikes, police barricades were put up at entrances to the Wapping site and all traffic, apart from vans carrying newspapers, were prevented from going through. Police officers were accused of being overly aggressive in their treatment of the strikers and local residents.

By the end of the 1980s, all national newspapers had followed Rupert Murdoch's lead and relocated to the newly-developed Docklands and adopted a new, cheaper printing technology.