Glasgow memories: City's response to the national postal strike of 1971

It was Britain’s first national postal strike, prompted by a dispute over pay rises, and it lasted for seven weeks, overlapping with the introduction of decimalisation in the UK.

(That’s a subject that is still sore for many Times Past readers – get in touch and share your memories of going decimal!)

It was January 1971 when the postal workers walked out.

The Evening Times of January 19th lamented more than 150,000 letters were piling up in the Glasgow sorting offices.

In London, postboxes were sealed up to stop theft and vandalism but our newspaper announced: “Glasgow is not following the London example – pillar boxes are to remain ‘ungagged’.”

The following day, we reported that Scotland’s ‘Hello Girls’ - the very 1970s term used to describe post office telephonists, had to a great extent defied the strike.

READ MORE: Glasgow's suffrage sisters and their battle to be heard

“Post office officials today estimated that 40 percent of Scots Hello Girls walked through the picket lines and reported for work,” said our reporter.

“The biggest number of Glasgow telephone operators turned out to the Buchanan telephone complex which handles exchanges in the north west of the city.”

The Union of Post Office Workers reported a near 100 percent response in Scotland with just 112 postmen and counter clerks out of a possible 13,000 turning up for work.

“In Glasgow,” reported the Evening Times. “only four postmen and nine counter clerks defied the pickets and went to work.

“A Post Office spokesperson said: “It is unlikely they will have much work to do. They will do a little sorting.”

Who remembers Glasgow’s grand post office HQ in George Square?

Sorting Office George Sq post office in 1977. Pic: Herald & Times GPO training school in George Square post office. Pic: Herald & Times

Our photographers have captured it on film many times over the decades – here it is in 1977, when it was a thriving hub. It was once the largest post office in Scotland.

It opened in 1878, at a time when the city was positioning itself as a commercial force to be reckoned with. Complaints about the lack of an adequate postal service in Glasgow were the reason it was finally built.

It was also home to the GPO training school – this photograph captures a new clerk in action. Interestingly, stamps used in training sessions were printed with black bars so they could not be spirited out of the building and used on real letters.

The post office eventually closed in 1995 and is now home to an assortment of businesess and apartments.

As a reminder of more gentle times, this fantastic old photo was taken a little bit further down the Clyde in the 1930s.

It captures a Gourock postman doing his rounds almost 100 years ago, delivering a basket of mail which had come from the Canadian Pacific Railways liner, the Duchess of Bedford.

The Postal Museum has been sharing historical photographs on social media while it remains closed.

A postman in Gourock in the 1930s. Pic: The Postal Museum

Actor Frank Wylie was on hand in 1990 to help postal workers launch a lovely new uniform.

The High Road star, and well-known theatre actor, took his latest role very seriously as he helped reveal the new togs.

Do you think workers gave them their stamp of approval?

Actor Frank Wylie launches the new Postman's Uniform at Glasgow Post Office HQ in 1990. Pic: Herald and Times

*Do you recall the postal strike of 1971? Share your memories with Times Past - we would love to hear them and to see your photos.

Get in touch by emailing ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow East Investment Park, Glasgow G32 8FG.