Flashback: Ford strike threat, increase in child abuse, and a rise in smuggling
20 years ago. - Credit: Romford Library
A look back at the stories from this week 60, 40 and 20 years ago
20 years ago. - Credit: Romford Library
1959
Unless Ford and the unions hammered out a solution to 100per cent trade unionism at a meeting in London, it was likely that the giant motor works would be rocked by another big strike.
Between 400 and 500 members of the Electrical Trades Union at Ford were due to walk out because one of their members was in arrears with his union subs.
If this happened, many thousands would have had to be laid off within a few days and eventually most of the firm's 45,000 workers because the ETU controlled the nerve centre of production at Ford.
20 years ago. - Credit: Romford Library
You may also want to watch:
For nearly three hours, 22 union leaders and representatives of the firm at a meeting of the National Joint Negotiating Committee in London tried to clear up once and for all the question of 100pc membership.
Although the meeting was friendly, the committee failed to agree and another conference was called.
Most Read
- 1 Havering parks and gardens five feet under water as rivers burst their banks
- 2 Fines issued to Romford and Upminster restaurants flouting coronavirus restrictions
- 3 Infection rates are now falling in Havering - is lockdown working?
- 4 More than 100 Covid dead at Queen's and King George this week
- 5 Man killed in collision on A13 near Rainham
- 6 Havering and Barking and Dagenham parents 'outraged' at poor quality free school meal replacements
- 7 GPs roll up their sleeves to support colleagues at Queen's Hospital
- 8 Doctors and nurses 'exhausted' as hospitals reach breaking point
- 9 Charity boss hails response after 'army of volunteers' come forward to support vaccine centres
- 10 Pressure on to preserve Upminster trees as council receives almost 200 messages
1979
Child abuse was on the increase locally.
Havering Council confirmed a "steady increase" in the number of cases of child battering and neglect.
Its comments came after a shock report into child abuse issued by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
The dossier made disturbing reading in what was supposed to be the International Year of the Child.
But Dennis Banton, group officer of the NSPCC's Essex group, which covered Havering, said that while more cruelty cases were being reported, the society felt that they were only "the tip of the iceberg".
He said: "There has been a lot of publicity over the last two years and consequently more cases are coming to light.
"But we feel there are still more cases that never get reported."
1999
Huge amounts of illegally imported alcohol, cigarettes and other goods were pouring into the Romford area.
Customs and Excise figures showed that on their list of shame, the Romford area was second only to Dover for the amounts of illegally imported merchandise.
The local excise fraud unit had seized 74 million illegal cigarettes since April 1999.
This represented around £9m in excise evasion.
Romford was rapidly becoming a booming bootleg borough with smugglers finding it an ideal area to target.
A fraud unit officer said that proximity to the Channel Tunnel, Kent ferry ports and London City Airport helped to make Romford a hotspot.
He added: "There are many industrial estates and warehouses in and around Romford and with the growing number of boot fairs there was a ready market for smuggled goods."
