Silence in courts as workers stage strike
For the first time in the 807-year history of the British court system, court clerks, ushers and enforcement officers held an official strike yesterday, causing the first unscheduled halt in court services since the system was established by Richard I. The walkout over pending pay cuts by hundreds of magistrates court workers in the West Midlands shut down over half the ninety courts in that region, as judges, lawyers and criminals in the remaining courthouses crossed picket lines. The striking members of the Association of Magisterial Officers returned promptly to work at the end of the half-day strike, and AMO General Secretary Rosie Eagleson said that the government's plans to 'harmonize' wages by cutting pay for court workers had left them with no choice but to strike.
See "Silence in courts as workers stage strike", BOB SHERWOOD, Financial Times, November 11, 2002