It became known as the winter of discontent. After the Labour government tried to freeze wages to stem inflation, Britain was convulsed by labour strikes and disruptions in public services, leading to a fierce political backlash that swept Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives into power.
Forty-five years later, a summer of strikes is disrupting industries from coast to coast in America. Unions have launched or are threatening stoppages that could affect everything from airline travel and parcel deliveries to car manufacturing and film and TV production.
