Recently I attended a meeting organised by the Liverpool writers’ group Writing on the Wall, to gather ideas for the 25th version of their annual May literature festival. As the group describe it, “Throughout the entire month of May, our annual literature festival, WoWFEST, offers a programme of local, national and international writers, performers, commentators and artists.”
To understand how WoW co-ordinate all of this, it is important to understand why WoW exists. It originated in the support and solidarity shown during the 1995-98 Liverpool dockers’ dispute. The dispute began on 25 September 1995 when five workers for the subcontractors Torside Ltd were dismissed, following a dispute regarding overtime pay.
They formed a picket line that other dockers refused to cross in solidarity. All 80 Torside workers were then sacked after they refused to cross the picket line, resulting in a larger strike held at the gates of the Huskisson and Canada Docks, causing work on three international liners to come to a halt.
The striking dockers then went to picket out the Seaforth terminal, on September 27, , with a banner emblazoned with the message: “Save The 80: Say No To Casuals”, they handed out leaflets to workers as they arrived at Seaforth container terminal. On September 29,400 dockers employed by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company had been sacked for refusing to cross the new picket line.
The dockers fought with both dignity and creativity, seeking to internationalise the dispute, with US shipping company Atlantic Containers threatening to pull out of Liverpool after three sacked Liverpool dockers managed to form a picket line in New York, which dockworkers in the US would not cross.
As with the 1984 Miners’ Strike, dockers’ wives and partners joined the protest, forming the Women on the Waterfront group to organise and co-ordinate solidarity. In1997 Irish dockworkers supported the Liverpool pickets, after the pickets targeted Dublin port. In March 1997 in a European Cup Winners’ Cup match at Anfield between Liverpool and Norwegian team SK Brann Bergen, after scoring one of his two goals, Liverpool forward Robbie Fowler celebrated by lifting up his top to reveal the CK dockers t-shirt underneath – see image above.
The dockers and their supporters were staunch in their rejection of various settlement offers from MDHC and imaginative in finding ways of keeping the dispute alive in the media and in public consciousness. In September 1997 ports along the US western seaboard, from Seattle to San Pedro, were paralysed by solidarity actions in support of the dockers. With the election of New Labour, political pressure was exerted on the dockers to settle the dispute, and arrests were stepped up , with an increase in arrests and bail conditions for charged dockers prohibiting them from returning to the strikes. On January 26 1998, the strike ended when the dockers accepted a settlement from MDHC.
Writing on the Wall was founded by dockers and members of Women of the Waterfront and other local activists who worked with Jimmy McGovern and Irvine Welsh to make the “Dockers” film for Channel 4. It is a conscious attempt to maintain the spirit of creative solidarity that saw the dockers through three years of hardship and use that spirit to ignite the creativity of working-class communities throughout Merseyside. As WoW co-directors Madeline Heneghan & Mike Morris put it:
WoW promotes change whilst highlighting and tackling social and economic injustice. We aim to inspire personal and social transformation through writing and creativity. With a focus on writing which empowers, we work with communities to gain strength through creativity.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ideas which could form themes at the May festival and consider possible speakers. Participants suggested a range of themes, from the recent race riots, the election of Trump and the risk to democracy, the impact of AI on creativity, to returning to the history of the dockers’ dispute and celebrating the continuity of WoW. (Someone also suggested an event to mark the closure of Everton’s Goodison Park stadium, but we’ll pass over that.)
Even though the meeting was aware that we’re entering a period of great challenge for progressive ideas, it was far from despondent. WoW and its supporters and affiliates were a real joy to observe, displaying a militant and resolute belief in the right of all of us to pursue creative development and experiment that was inspiring to be part of, and shows what can be achieved on the ground if organisations are rooted in their communities and committed to finding new ways to give voice to them.
Anyone who wants to suggest speakers or run activities /workshops during May 2025, or offer other forms of support, can contact WoW at Toxteth Library, Windsor Street, Liverpool, L8 1XF, Tel: 0151 703 0020, Email: info@writingonthewall.org.uk
