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Feeding the Flames

By: Diarmaid Kelliher

More than simply keeping picket lines going, providing food to workers in dispute is a form of collectivism that has shaped the trade union movement.

Communal soup kitchens sustained miners during the 1984-85 strike. (Photo by PA Images / Getty Images)

Small

It’s far better to show up at a picket line with cake than a newspaper to sell. Donations of food and drink are usually welcome gestures of solidarity during an industrial dispute; in drawn-out struggles, they become essential. Feeding a strike is often unspectacular, hidden work, which deserves greater recognition. It’s not all tales of […]

Medium

It’s far better to show up at a picket line with cake than a newspaper to sell. Donations of food and drink are usually welcome gestures of solidarity during an industrial dispute; in drawn-out struggles, they become essential. Feeding a strike is often unspectacular, hidden work, which deserves greater recognition. It’s not all tales of […]

Large

It’s far better to show up at a picket line with cake than a newspaper to sell. Donations of food and drink are usually welcome gestures of solidarity during an industrial dispute; in drawn-out struggles, they become essential. Feeding a strike is often unspectacular, hidden work, which deserves greater recognition. It’s not all tales of […]

It’s far better to show up at a picket line with cake than a newspaper to sell. Donations of food and drink are usually welcome gestures of solidarity during an industrial dispute; in drawn-out struggles, they become essential. Feeding a strike is often unspectacular, hidden work, which deserves greater recognition. It’s not all tales of […]

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