Kirkby Rent Strike

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The Kirkby Rent Strike was a 14-month-long rent strike initiated by 3,000 tenants in October 1972 in the town of Kirkby, outside Liverpool, against the Housing Finances Act. [1] A group of women on the Tower Hill estate formed a discussion and support group to help themselves and their families through the factory closure crisis. [2] When the Housing Finances Act was passed, causing a £1 rent rise, these women formed an Unfair Rents Action Group along with other Kirkby residents, communists, and socialists and responded by organizing the rent strike. [2] [3] [4] If a member was threatened with eviction, they were given a list of people they could call to get help. [2] On October 1, tenants withheld rent payments in retaliation. [5]

The strike lasted for 14 months, resulting in the strikers being summoned to court and failing to appear. [6] Employees at the BirdsEye Factory on Kirkby Endustrial Estate were suspended for participating in strike marches. [4] 36 of the strikers were then charged with contempt of court and faced the threat of jail. The strike ended in December 1973 when one of the strikers was jailed and a further four were arrested. A vote was held with the majority voting to end the strike.

The strike was the subject of a film, Behind the Rent Strike by documentary film maker, Nick Broomfield. [7]

References

  1. ↑ Murden, Jon (2006). "The 1972 Kirkby Rent Strike: Dockland Solidarity in a New Setting?". London: Economic History Society. Archived from the original (DOC) on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Remembering the Kirkby Rent Strike". Challenge Magazine. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  3. ↑ "Kirkby Rent Strike 1972".
  4. 1 2 "'We won't pay'. Remembering the Kirkby rent strike". Greater Manchester Housing Action. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Looking back at the 1972 Kirkby Rent Strike – Autonomy News". 19 December 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Belger, Tom (9 October 2015). "Watch: Kirkby rent strike remembered, four decades on". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ↑ McKeon, Christopher (19 June 2021). "From struggling estates to regeneration in 'left behind' town". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 July 2024.


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