ABSTRACT
In the autumn of 1974 heavy goods vehicle drivers employed by Glasgow Corporation struck in furtherance of a claim for parity with rates that private drivers in Scotland had won that summer. The Corporation argued that it was bound by national agreements, and that the knock-on effects of conceding the claim would be unacceptably high. While BBC coverage is not generally under consideration, it is worth noting that their report, also over library film, stated that the strike decision brought 'fears of a repeat of the situation last October when rubbish piled up in the streets causing a health hazard'. Initially the Glasgow strike was reported briefly and routinely as one of a clutch of disputes on Clydeside; eight of the first nine reports ran less than 40 seconds. At one point the Group question the ‘adequacy’ of television coverage, only to revert immediately to their narrower concern with the presentation of the strikers’ case.
