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[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]  

[[Image:Ford strike 1978.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Strikes began when 72,000 Ford workers "downed tools" and walked off the job, leaving 23 Ford factories across the country empty.]]  

The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread [[strike|strikes]] marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[socialism|socialist]] government incumbent at the time. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

The phrase '''Winter of Discontent''' refers to the [[British]] winter of 1978-1979, when widespread strikes marked the largest stoppage of labour since the [[1926 General Strike]] as the working classes and the [[Trade Unionism|Trade Unions]] rebelled against the [[Labour Party]] government of [[James Callaghan]], the Prime Minister 1976-79. The period was marked by food shortages, power cuts, household refuse uncollected, and even the dead were left unburied. Twenty-nine million working days were lost to industrial action involving 4.6 million workers. Thirty years later, the memory of snow-bound Britain in the midst of industrial chaos remains deeply etched in the national psyche. It was the key factor in Labour’s defeat in the general election of 1979 and continued to resonate in British politics for many years after.

==Origin of the phrase==

==Origin of the phrase==

==See also==

==See also==

*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

*[[Miners' Strike 1984]]

==References==

==References==

{{reflist|2}}

{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:British Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:British History]]

[[Category:British Politics]][[Category:Labor]][[Category:British History]]