A new multimedia exhibition on the 1913 Lockout opened today in the National Library of Ireland (NLI), almost 100 years to the day since drivers and conductors walked off their trams on Dublin's O"Connell Street in protest at employer attempts to break the nascent Irish Transport & General Workers" Union
These events culminated in the 1913 Lockout involving some 20,000 workers, in which employers led by William Martin Murphy "locked out" union members and replaced them with non-union labour.
Speaking at the opening, Congress General Secretary David Begg said: 'the exhibition gives the public an opportunity to gain an insight into the thinking of some of the key protagonists in this epic struggle as well as the hard day-to-day experiences of ordinary workers and their families.
'they are bound to be struck – as I have – by the heroic determination of the workers and their communities to achieve decent treatment and fairness at work and, ultimately, radical social change and advancement. Critical to events of one hundred years ago was the right of workers to organise and to collectively bargain – an issue that has yet to be resolved - along with the ongoing campaign for better standards and decent work."
The exhibition was formally opened by Mr Brendan Howlin TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
The Director of the National Library of Ireland - Fiona Ross – said she was very grateful for the support of Congress for the project and for the research support provided by historians Padraig Yeates and Peter Rigney, a senior Congress official.
Listen to an RTE Drivetime preview of the exhibition here or visit the NLI site for further details.
