voices of 74: strike 1/4
The election results consolidated opposition to Sunningdale and signalled the inevitability of a move to active protest. The decision was made that this action should take the form of a strike. The following testimonies begin with a consideration of why this form of action was chosen before a series of reflections on the everyday experiences of schoolchildren and workers during the stoppage.
'I always remember I was first year and my friend and I were at the front of the bus...and there was a UDA checkpoint... and all these guys and some with guns and you know balaclavas and that on. And one got on to the bus...he grabbed me and the other girl and he put the gun to us and said get all these kids off the bus. And I can remember just being standing there petrified and the bus driver shouting to the kids you've got to get off the bus. Get off the bus quickly.'
Kathy Wolff