The TUC: 150 stories for 150 years
In 2018 the TUC turned 150 and wanted to mark this special anniversary with a look back on its history and a celebration of the extraordinary achievements of trade unionists. As part of the TUC 150 project we were commissioned to produce 150 stories of the trade union movement that would surprise, move and inspire.
150 stories was a huge undertaking – the biggest story gathering project we have ever led – but we delved into the TUC archives and got on the phone to the unionists of today and produced stories about some of the most inspiring activists in the country. Fancy looking at the ‘fantasy CV’ of Labour party founder, Kier Hardie? Ever wanted to know what a pre-The Royle Family Ricky Tomlinson said in the dock during his trial for union activities? And why did Jeannie Mole reject corsets?
One of our favourite stories was about the 1888 Match Women’s Strike (in fact, the match women inspired Alex so much that she’s currently writing a book about them!). It proved to be the public’s favourite too, with that one story alone receiving 80,000 impressions, 2,000 engagements on Twitter, and a Facebook reach of over 60,000 people, with over 3,600 reactions, comments and shares.
Our work for the TUC has continued and in 2022 we produced a set of strike success stories for the new Solidarity Hub, a resource hub that supports unions to make a success of their campaigns and disputes.
