In the mid-1980s, most British newspapers were still produced using hot metal. Rupert Murdoch, chair of News International, publisher of The Sun, News of the World, The Times and Sunday Times, was determined to free himself from Fleet Street’s powerful print unions and traditional printing methods. During 1985 he equipped a new plant at Wapping in east London, where new technology would allow journalists to input copy directly on screen.
Following the collapse of talks about working conditions, a strike was declared, striking workers were sacked and overnight Murdoch moved the four titles to Wapping, employing the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union union to staff the new plant. The first copies rolled off the presses on 25 January 1986. Print unions and supporters picketed the entrance to the plant, with The Battle of Wapping – one of the most bitter and violent disputes in British industrial history – continuing for 13 months.
