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The Strikes of the Asian Black Workers
In 1974 hundreds of mostly East African Asian women workers walked out on strike at the Imperial typewriter factory in Leicester. This was partly over a bonus scheme for which they were being underpaid and it was also about discrimination Asian workers experienced compared with white colleagues. The strikers got a lot of support from the local Asian community but not really from anywhere else. But more informal colour bars persisted and often did so with the agreement of the trade unions. At Mansfield Hosey for example the union, the national union of hosey and knitwear workers refused to back the strike until eventually it was forced to do so following the occupation of its offices by the strikers.