A real mess

“The Durham Experince: Bureaucrats and Women Cleaners” is an undated pamphlet probably published in 1976. It was brought out by Solidarity, a small group of libertarian socialists based in Britain. The two authors, Lynda Finns and Gavin Williams, were not members of the group, but describe themselves as socialists. The pamphlet deals with a number of disputes at the University of Durham, where the underpaid and overworked cleaners (mostly women) fought for meaningful union representation.

Both Finn (a student) and Williams (a lecturer) aided the politically inexperienced cleaners in making demands on management, affiliate with the most radical union, etc. Occasionally, they sound somewhat patronizing, a bit like anthropologists on a field work. At one point, they jokingly describe themselves as “outside agitators”! The union-centred approach of the authors is roundly criticized in a postscript, appended by Solidarity, who argue in favour of independent organizing outside the union structures. This gives “Bureaucrats and Women Cleaners” a somewhat strange look.

That being said, this is nevertheless a relatively interesting look at the conditions of a group of workers whose problems are usually overlooked. Therefore, I give it three stars.