2016 European Grand Prix

The 2016 European Grand Prix (formally known as the 2016 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 19 June 2016 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The race was the eighth round of the 2016 season, and marked the twenty-third running of the European Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. It was the first time that the race has been held at the circuit and the first time that a Grand Prix has been held in Azerbaijan.

Nico Rosberg entered the round holding a nine-point lead in the World Drivers' Championship ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Their team, Mercedes, came in leading Ferrari by seventy-six points in the World Constructors' Championship. Rosberg went on to win the race—his first race win since the Russian Grand Prix—and extended his championship lead to twenty-four points. The result also marked Rosberg's second career grand slam. Sebastian Vettel finished second, with Force India driver Sergio Pérez completing the podium. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes extended their lead over Ferrari to eighty-one points.

Valtteri Bottas recorded the highest ever clocked speed in an official Formula One session, at 378 kilometres per hour (235 mph) during qualifying, breaking the previous record of 369.6 kilometres per hour (229.7 mph), set by Antônio Pizzonia at Monza during the 2004 Italian Grand Prix.

## Report

### Background

Going into the weekend, Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship with 116 points, nine ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel followed in third with 78 points, six clear of Daniel Ricciardo, followed by Kimi Räikkönen with 69. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes led the field with 223 points, ahead of Ferrari with 147. Third was Red Bull Racing with 130 points, with Williams a further 49 points behind.

#### Preparations

Plans to hold a Formula One race in Azerbaijan were first announced by Bernie Ecclestone – the sport's commercial rights holder – in May 2014, when he declared that the race in Baku would replace the Korean Grand Prix for the 2015 season. The government of Azerbaijan confirmed the plans in July of the same year, declaring that the race would be held under the title Grand Prix of Europe. At the same time, the organisers announced that the debut in Baku would be delayed until 2016. Hermann Tilke, the designer of the street circuit, released first pictures of the planned venue in October 2014. Even though the race faced criticism by human rights activists, citing the government's attitude towards civil liberties, Ecclestone gave the go-ahead for the race in April 2015. The Grand Prix in Baku was the second to be held in the former Soviet Union, following the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, first held in 2014.

The circuit passed its final inspection in May 2016 with FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting declaring his satisfaction that the circuit would be ready in time for the race. The circuit attracted some criticism from drivers who highlighted a lack of run-off in some corners and the tight pit entry positioned at one of the fastest points on the circuit. Following problems with loose kerbs in free practice, changes were made in turns 6 and 12, where the kerbs were replaced by painted markings on the track. Further revisions were made to the pit entry ahead of qualifying, extending the white line denoting the entry lane to allow drivers more time to react to cars entering the pit.

#### Tyres

After providing teams with the ultrasoft compound for the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix, tyre supplier Pirelli made the supersoft, soft and medium compounds available for the race despite the ultrasoft compound being specifically designed for street circuits. Pirelli explained the decision not to provide the ultrasoft tyres as being a result of a lack of available performance data on the circuit, while most teams opted for a full complement of soft and supersoft tyres and taking only the minimum number of medium compound tyres dictated by the rules. In preparing for the race, Pirelli acknowledged concerns about the circuit's high speed straights and direction changes causing "standing waves" over longer runs, a phenomenon whereby the energy passing through the wheel is strong enough to shift the build of the tyre, compromising its rigidity and increasing the likelihood of tyre failures. Further concerns were raised about the impact of the temporary surface used to protect the cobblestones through the Old City section on the tyres, amid fears that predicted high temperatures throughout the weekend would cause this surface to break up. Following the first free practice session, it was found that the metal bolts used to anchor segments of kerbing to the roadway had started working loose and had been cutting into the rubber of the tyres, necessitating minor modifications to the circuit in order to correct the issue.

#### Drag reduction system

The race saw the use of two drag reduction system (DRS) zones, with the first positioned along the main straight and the second located on the parallel back straight between turns 2 and 3.

#### Support events

The circuit also hosted the third round of the 2016 GP2 Series championship as a supporting event.

### Controversies

Following the initial announcement of its revival, the race was subject to criticism in light of Azerbaijan's human rights record as the race was established with the financial support of the Azerbaijani government. On 7 June 2016, the organisation Sport for Rights called for Bernie Ecclestone to speak out about the human rights situation in the country, having written an open letter to him to which Ecclestone had not replied. Sport for Rights made it clear that they did not call for a cancellation of the race, but instead urged the sport to use the race to promote these issues in public. Ecclestone replied a week later, saying that Formula One had "a clear conscience" on human rights and added: "I tell you what we ought to do. As far as we are concerned, not have any races where there is corruption in the country. Can you tell me where we are going to be racing?"

With the race scheduled for 19 June, the event conflicted with the conclusion of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans. Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg, who won the 2015 race with Porsche would not be able to return and defend his title, leading to accusations that Formula One Management had deliberately scheduled the race to conflict with Le Mans and prevent Formula One drivers from participating. In May 2016, the Azerbaijan government decided to abandon the use of daylight saving time, prompting event organisers to change the start time of the race. The revised start time negated the clash between the start of the Grand Prix and the race in Le Mans.

### Free practice

Per the regulations for the 2016 season, two 90-minute practice sessions were held on Friday and another 60-minute session was held before qualifying on Saturday. In the first ever session on the new track on Friday morning, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at 1:46.435. He was followed by his Mercedes teammate Rosberg almost four-tenths of a second back, with Valtteri Bottas third for Williams, also within one second of Hamilton. Fernando Alonso was an encouraging fourth for McLaren. Both Bottas and Alonso set their fastest times on the soft rather than the supersoft tyre compound used by the Mercedes drivers. Several drivers got caught out on the new track, the first being Esteban Gutiérrez, who was forced into the run-off area at turn 15. Hamilton also had an incident, touching the barrier at turn 3 and flat-spotting his tyres later on the lap. The biggest incident occurred when Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Red Bull RB12 at the exit of turn 15, losing one of his rear wheels and causing an eleven-minute red flag period.

Hamilton was again fastest in the second session on Friday afternoon, edging out Rosberg by almost seven-tenths of a second. Rosberg's running was limited as he coasted to a halt on track with twenty minutes of the session left to go due to losing drive. Ferrari was not competitive in eighth and thirteenth place for Vettel and Räikkönen respectively, with both cars suffering from problems with their energy recovery unit. The top five cars were powered by Mercedes, as Sergio Pérez led the charge behind Mercedes in third, ahead of Bottas and Nico Hülkenberg. Fernando Alonso managed eleventh place, but had to spend considerable time in the garage while his team worked on his car. Marcus Ericsson also had limited track time as a problem with his exhaust pipe forced him to miss the early part of the session. With loose kerbs detected during the GP2 qualifying session, drivers were instructed to stay clear of the kerbs at turn 6. Once more, many drivers had minor incidents on track, with some having to take to the run-off area at turn 3, while Gutiérrez touched the barrier at turn 8. Carlos Sainz Jr. spun at the first corner, but nevertheless finished the session in sixth, the fastest runner without a Mercedes power unit.

In the third session on Saturday morning, Hamilton topped the timesheets once again, setting a time of 1:44.352, a quarter of a second clear of teammate Rosberg. Hülkenberg was third for Force India ahead of Ricciardo and Vettel. The session saw several incidents: Bottas damaged the floor of his car when he ran over a drain cover on his installation lap and was forced to miss the rest of the session; Felipe Massa made contact with the wall, but was later able to rejoin practice; Räikkönen's track time was limited as well due to a loss of power; and a red flag period occurred right after the chequered flag fell as Pérez crashed at turn 15.

### Qualifying

The first period of qualifying (Q1) ran for eighteen minutes and set positions seventeen to twenty-two on the grid. Nico Rosberg was the fastest at the end of the session, which saw MRT drivers Rio Haryanto and Pascal Wehrlein eliminated in seventeenth and eighteenth place, their best qualifying performance of the season. Jenson Button qualified nineteenth, after running wide at turn 15 on his first flying lap and aborting his second after encountering traffic. Marcus Ericsson finished twentieth overall, ahead of the Renaults of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, who struggled with a lack of power on the circuit's long straights.

The second qualifying period was fifteen minutes in length, and was used to set positions eleven through to sixteen. It was once again topped by Nico Rosberg, who was the first person to set a time under 1:43.000 all weekend. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton locked his brakes on the approach to turn 7, damaging his race tyres. Hamilton narrowly avoided elimination, setting a time good enough to proceed on his last attempt. Romain Grosjean was eliminated in eleventh, having overcome issues with his brake balance. Nico Hülkenberg was a surprise elimination in twelfth, having run consistently at the front of the field throughout the weekend. His elimination was attributed to a miscommunication between himself and his engineer over the amount of fuel he had on board. Carlos Sainz Jr. and Fernando Alonso finished thirteenth and fourteenth to fill the seventh row of the grid, ahead of Gutiérrez.

The third and final session was twelve minutes long. Sergio Pérez set the early pace before Hamilton made a mistake, also impeding Rosberg's first flying lap. Rosberg surpassed Pérez's lap time to claim provisional pole while Hamilton crashed out, clipping the barrier on the inside of turn 10 and breaking his front suspension. The session was immediately red-flagged while Hamilton's car was cleared away, and resumed with just two minutes remaining. This left eight drivers – with the exception of the crashed Hamilton and Rosberg, who elected not to go out – to fight for positions on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo led the column of cars out and set a lap time good enough for third place; Sebastian Vettel matched his lap time to the thousandth of a second, and was classified fourth, as Ricciardo had set his lap time first. Kimi Räikkönen finished fifth, ahead of Felipe Massa. Daniil Kvyat out-qualified teammate Sainz in seventh, the first time that he had out-qualified a teammate in 2016. Valtteri Bottas overcame the damage to his car and lack of running during free practice to finish eighth alongside Verstappen, the two having been involved in a series of on-track altercations throughout qualifying. Hamilton finished tenth, with his time of over two minutes having been recorded when he took to the escape road on his first flying lap. During qualifying, Bottas reached the highest ever recorded speed in an official Formula One session, at 378 km/h (235 mph), exceeding the previous record of 369.6 km/h (229.7 mph) set by Antônio Pizzonia at the 2004 Italian Grand Prix.

### Post-qualifying

Sergio Pérez was demoted to seventh with the application of a gearbox penalty, following a change made necessary after he hit the barrier in turn 15 during the last practice session. This promoted Ricciardo, Vettel, Räikkönen, Massa, and Kvyat up the grid in the process. Sainz and Magnussen were also demoted, with Magnussen having to start from the pit lane. Lewis Hamilton was given permission to change his front left tyre ahead of the race. Under the regulations, a driver who qualifies in the top ten must start the race on the set of tyres they used to record their best time in the second part of qualifying. However, Hamilton's front left tyre, which belonged to the set of tyres that he subsequently used to set his fastest time during his next flying lap, was deemed to be too damaged following his lock-up going into turn seven, necessitating its change on safety grounds.

### Race

At the start of the race, Rosberg retained his lead ahead of Ricciardo, followed by Vettel and Räikkönen. Sergio Pérez gained two places and was fifth, while Esteban Gutiérrez damaged his front wing when he made contact with the back of Nico Hülkenberg's car. Hamilton remained tenth until he overtook Kvyat for ninth place on lap four. One lap later, both Bottas and Hamilton seized an opportunity to overtake Max Verstappen, as he ran wide into turn two. As a reaction, Red Bull decided to change tyres on Verstappen's car on the following lap. Another lap later, Ricciardo followed suit. At Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat retired on lap eight. On lap ten, Hamilton overtook Bottas for fourth place, but was more than twenty seconds behind teammate Rosberg. He went into the pit lane for a tyre change on lap 15. Force India reacted two laps later and brought Pérez in and he emerged back from the pit lane just ahead of Hamilton. Meanwhile, the order at the front was Rosberg, Vettel, Bottas, Ricciardo and Räikkönen. On lap 18, Räikkönen took fourth place by overtaking Ricciardo on the start/finish straight. Pérez moved ahead of Massa into seventh on lap 20, and Hamilton followed through one lap later, while Bottas pitted and returned to the track in ninth place.

Second placed Sebastian Vettel came into the pit lane at the end of lap 21 and dropped to third behind Ricciardo. Race leader Rosberg made his stop one lap later, retaining the lead. On lap 23, both Pérez and Hamilton passed Ricciardo, who came in for his second tyre change at the end of the lap and dropped back to 13th place. Aided by pit stops in front of him and a timely overtake on Carlos Sainz Jr. on lap 27, he moved back into ninth shortly thereafter. Two laps later, Räikkönen let teammate Vettel pass him for second place, albeit 18 seconds down on race leader Rosberg. Starting by lap 32, Hamilton suffered from problems with his car, being stuck in a wrong engine mode. Due to the regulations stating that drivers had to drive the vehicles "unaided", the team was not allowed to help him. Another lap later, the race ended for Sainz due to a suspension problem. On lap 42, Pascal Wehrlein retired as well with brake failure. By lap 44, Hamilton had sorted out his issues and set the fastest lap of the race while in fifth place. In front of him the order was Rosberg, Vettel, Räikkönen and Pérez. One lap later, Fernando Alonso retired in the pit lane due to gearbox issues, after having been passed by multiple drivers in the preceding laps.

As Rosberg was comfortably in the lead, still 18 seconds ahead of Vettel, Verstappen took ninth place from Massa going into turn one on lap 46. Red Bull teammate Ricciardo also gained a place, at Hülkenberg's expense, at the same spot three laps later. With Räikkönen facing a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line, Pérez behind him would not have to pass him to achieve third place as long as he stayed within five seconds of him. Pérez nevertheless made the move on the final lap to finish in the final podium position. Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg crossed the line to win the Grand Prix, more than 16 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

### Post-race

At the podium interview, conducted by former team owner Eddie Jordan, Rosberg hailed an "amazing weekend" for himself, saying that he was "ecstatic" about the victory, but refused to answer questions concerning the outcome of the World Championship. Second-placed Vettel praised the track and his team's effort in preparing the car after difficulties in Friday's free practice. Sergio Pérez emphasised his recovery after his gearbox penalty, which put him back five places on the starting grid and the satisfaction of overtaking Räikkönen on the last lap of the race. During the following press conference, Vettel expressed surprise at the fact that no safety car period had emerged over the course of the race.

Fifth-placed Hamilton, who had been stuck in a wrong engine mode for twelve laps and was at first unable to resolve the issue without the help of his team, attacked the revised radio rules, stating: "The rule needs to be looked at again because it is a technical issue." He stressed that the ban made the sport more dangerous. Several drivers, such as Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, joined him in his criticism. It transpired after the race that Rosberg had had the same problem, a couple of laps after it occurred on Hamilton's car, but was able to solve it faster than his teammate.

Following his pit lane entry violation during the race, which handed him a five-second time penalty, Kimi Räikkönen was furthermore given two penalty points to his licence, bringing him to five overall.

As a result of the race, Rosberg extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 24 points over Hamilton, with Vettel a further 21 points behind in third. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes retained their lead with 258 points, followed by Ferrari on 177 and Red Bull with 140 points.

## Classification

### Qualifying

Notes

- – Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz Jr., and Kevin Magnussen received five-place grid penalties for unscheduled gearbox changes.
- – Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel set identical lap times in Q3. As Ricciardo was the first to set his time, he was considered to have qualified ahead of Vettel.
- – Kevin Magnussen was required to start from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.

### Race

Notes

- – Kimi Räikkönen had five seconds added to his race time for crossing the pit entry line.

## Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship standings

- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

## See also

- 2016 Baku GP2 Series round

Formula One motor race 2016 at Baku, Azerbaijan


Harry and the Potters

Harry and the Potters are an American rock band known for spawning the genre of wizard rock. Founded in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2002, the group is primarily composed of brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge, who both perform under the persona of the title character from the Harry Potter book series. Harry and the Potters are known for their elaborate live performances, and have developed a cult following within the Harry Potter fandom.

The band is often backed up by musicians like Ernie Kim, Andrew MacLeay, Brad Mehlenbacher, John Clardy, Mike Gintz, Jacob Nathan, Ben Macri, Phillip Dickey, Jason Anderson and Zach Burba. Most of them played drums. The band's most recent songs feature drummer Mike Harpring and bassist Paul Baribeau.

Since 2002, Harry and the Potters have released three studio albums, five extended plays, and a single. The duo founded the independent record label Eskimo Laboratories, and appeared in the documentary films We Are Wizards and Wizard Rockumentary. They also co-founded charity organization The Harry Potter Alliance, and formed the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, an extended play syndicate.

## History

### Formation (2002)

The origins were quite accidental. In Cambridge, MA, Paul DeGeorge (born (1979-06-10) June 10, 1979 (age 44)) was developing vaccines for a biotech firm as a chemical engineer. Paul had recently graduated from Tufts University. Outside the lab, Paul was a musician whose indie band—The Secrets—had toured in the northeast from 2001 to 2002. To promote his band, Paul co-founded a small indie label called Eskimo Laboratories. One of the other bands in Eskimo’s stable of talent included an act called Ed in the Refridgerators  [sic], which was fronted by Paul's 14-year-old brother Joe. Joe DeGeorge (born (1987-07-04) July 4, 1987 (age 36)) was a student at Norwood High School. He and his school friend Andrew MacLeay (A.K.A. Shaggy) had been playing in rock bands together since they were 11 and 12 years old.

A couple of years earlier after reading the Harry Potter books, Paul formulated the premise for Harry and the Potters where the principal Harry Potter characters would be the musicians: Harry as the front man, Ron on guitar, Hermione on bass and Hagrid on drums. Then a crisis of sorts struck the brothers on June 22, 2002. During a barbecue at the DeGeorge family’s Norwood Massachusetts, home, Joe organized a concert in his backyard featuring Ed and the Refridgerators, the Secrets, and Soltero. However, the latter two bands canceled the day of the event. To rescue a nearly lost opportunity, while waiting hopefully for a band to show, Harry and the Potters came into existence over the next hour when the two brothers wrote seven Potter-themed songs. They performed that first concert as Harry and the Potters for six people who remained of their audience. Of those seven backyard songs, five were to make it onto the band's first album in 2003.

### Harry and the Potters and Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock! (2003–04)

After recruiting drummer Ernie Kim, the band recorded their eponymous debut album over a weekend in the DeGeorge family living room. Released in June 2003 under the Eskimo Laboratories record label, the album contains six of the seven songs composed on June 22, 2002, and another twelve written spontaneously and immediately thereafter recorded. In "the summer of" 2003, Harry and the Potters set out on an American tour, performing at libraries. The fifth Harry Potter book – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – came out that summer and on June 21, 2003, the highly anticipated day of release, the band played five sets in a span of 24 hours. The library gigs drew crowds of mostly children and their parents. The brothers played a show at the library in Dorchester, Massachusetts, that August where they noticed the children in the audience singing along. Joe said, "Paul forgot the words to one of the songs. [The kids] were like, 'You sang it wrong!'" Paul said, "They'd be like, 'Hey, why'd you skip that song?' because they knew the exact sequence of the album." The DeGeorge brothers quickly developed an onstage persona of dressing in the fashion of wizard-school Hogwarts: white shirts under gray crew-neck sweaters, red-and-yellow striped ties, and wire-rim glasses. In a show of quirky egalitarianism, both brothers play the role of Harry Potter and dress almost identically; Paul is older and to conform to the character’s persona, he is Harry of Year 7; while Joe is the Harry of Year 4.

During May and June 2004, the band worked on their next album, Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!, in the DeGeorge family shed. Following the release, the band toured heavily. The two brothers drove 13,000 miles across the U.S. and into Canada in their "Potter Mobile", a silver 1998 Ford Windstar minivan with a black lightning bolt emblazoned on its hood. In live concerts, Paul and Joe used pre-recorded backing tracks for much of the tour, but during the second half, Joe called on his childhood friend and former bandmate Andrew MacLeay to join the band temporarily as drummer. During the Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock! tour, Paul and Joe DeGeorge received a letter from Warner Bros. that stated that the brothers were breaking copyright laws. Although Paul sent a letter to Warner Brothers in an attempt to smooth things over, Marc Brandon, the company representative, asked to speak to Paul personally. The two later settled upon a gentlemen's agreement that, in essence, would allow Harry and the Potters to continue to sell music online and tour, but all other merchandise could only be sold at live shows.

### Harry and the Potters and the Power of Love (2005–06)

The following winter, the band began their first overseas tour. In February 2005, they toured the United Kingdom – playing London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Chester, and Liverpool – and then followed it by playing some gigs in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Dutch translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince which took place in November 2005. In the Netherlands, they played one of their earliest songs "Platform Nine and 3/4" in Dutch. In late 2005, Harry and the Potters enjoyed more tongue-in-cheek critical success from respectable quarters. The web based music ’zine Pitchfork Media even hailed Harry and the Potters as having one of the best five live shows in 2005, quipping that "The Decemberists wish they could lit-rock like this." In the fall of 2005, Joe entered Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. While Harry and the Potters play infrequently at rock clubs and other venues—a Yule Ball at the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 2005 attracted an audience of 600 with 200 turned away at the door

The previous year was the watershed when a simple joke between two brothers had developed into something they had never imagined. The band continued its odd success and toured early in the year with a new wave 'sock puppet rock band' called Uncle Monsterface who opened for in March 2006. During the summer, they embarked on their 3rd cross-country summer tour ("Summer Reading and Rocking Tour 2006"), this time accompanied by fellow wizard rock band Draco and the Malfoys. Brad Mehlenbacher from Draco and the Malfoys handled drumming duties for the Potters for the entirety of their summer tour. They returned to home recording with the Harry and the Potters and the Power of Love but with a bigger sound and with the assistance of recording veteran Kevin Micka. While in the earlier albums the band's musical style was goofy inept pop-punk, the EP Scarred for Life became musically darker reflecting the penultimate book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as it takes as its central conceit a Harry Potter who has started a hardcore rock band. Paul and Joe departed from their proud DIY home recording and sought a studio for Scarred for Life (as well as their split EP with the Zambonis), and consequently feel that the songs on the Scarred for Life are among their "most badass".

### Extended plays and film appearances (2007–09)

By 2007, Harry and the Potters and their unexpected fan based indie music genre of wizard rock have grown into an international phenomenon. Recently, the band has engaged in charity side-projects and activism within the Harry Potter community. In January 2007, Harry and the Potters created the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club, a mail order subscription club that released an extended play by a different wizard rock band each month. Reflecting wizard rock's literacy focus, the club raises funds for First Book, a non-profit organization that gives children the ability to read and own their first new books. In 2007, the Club raised over \$13,000 for the organization. They released their first extended play The Enchanted Ceiling in 2007. May 2007 was also the beginning of their large 70-show summer-library tour across the US and Canada called simply "Summer Tour 2007". Like their initial year in 2003, the summer of 2007 would see the release of another Harry Potter book. Harry and the Potters scheduled the mid-point of the tour to arrive back in their home state and celebrate the July 21 midnight release of the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Harvard Yard. The festivities became an excuse for a meet-up of a number of wizard rock bands including The Hungarian Horntails and their nemesis Draco and the Malfoys which all played to a large crowd of Harry Potter fans in the Cambridge, Massachusetts college venue. Harry and the Potters resumed their tour which finally wound-up in late August. In Vancouver on July 7, 2007, hundreds of people crowded outside the Vancouver Public Library to see Harry and the Potters. ABC News reported that the band usually charge \$5 to \$10 for tickets to their shows, though some performances are free. Harry and the Potters said 600 people turned out for a July 10, 2007 show in Portland, Oregon.

In February 2008, Harry and the Potters launched a website called "Unlimited Enthusiasm". The website led users through a series of images and eventually to a forum, which contained much speculation concerning the nature of Unlimited Enthusiasm. Unlimited Enthusiasm ended up being the name of their Summer 2008 tour alongside bands Uncle Monsterface and Math The Band. Harry and the Potters undertook a summer tour, Unlimited Enthusiasm, with Math the Band, Uncle Monsterface and Jason Anderson. One of the stops in that tour was Nerdapalooza. This fall they released a short punk rock EP, In the Cupboard as part of the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club. Two full-length feature film projects documenting Harry and the Potters and the wizard rock movement, We Are Wizards and The Wizard Rockumentary, were released in 2008.

The band played its 500th show in June 2009 at Norwood Elementary School (MA) the founding members' hometown. The group continued the Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club in 2009, and as a member of the club, they released their third extended play The Yule Ball EP, which featured a CD and a DVD of their performance at the Fourth Annual Yule Ball.

### Further career and Lumos (2010–present)

In April 2010, the group announced a series of shows in the Midwestern United States, Scandinavia, and Ireland for July and August.

In Summer 2011, Harry and the Potters embarked on another summer tour entitled, Ride The Lightning. The tour was to the biggest since 2007, playing dates all throughout the United States. The first show was held May 25 in Portland, ME and the last show was July 31 at the Knitting Factory in New York. Drummer Jacob Nathan played with the group throughout the tour. Jacob is a member of the band 926 Main Street Apt. 2, which he formed with Joe DeGeorge and Emily Barnett while attending college at Clark University.

In 2015, Harry and the Potters released the EP Hedwig Lives for digital download, which included the tracks "The Great Motorcycle Explosion of ’97" and "Ridin' in the Night".

At a live show on March 30, 2018, the band debuted songs from their forthcoming fourth studio album that will be about The Deathly Hallows. They later announced that the album would also feature the anti-folk musician Kimya Dawson as a guest vocalist. Parts of this album were recorded in a studio, and others were recorded at the Lawrence, Kansas public library. On April 23, 2019, the band unveiled a Kickstarter to help recoup the cost of recording the album, which they revealed was named Lumos. Backers could also choose rewards that include an additional album entitled Mostly Camping, as well as a vinyl single called the "Harry Potter Boogie."

## Lyrical themes and style

Harry and the Potters couple their rough-edged music with themed lyrics, which define the band as much as the costumes. The straight-forward but quirky presentation of adolescent concerns and direness in the simplest of worries gives an easily likable quality to fans. They poke fun at awkward situations from the books. For example, in the song "The Human Hosepipe", they sing, "Maybe you shouldn't have brought up Cedric Diggory/ Because I'd rather not talk about your dead ex-boyfriends over coffee." Two other examples of the bands distinctive take on teenage angst are seen in the song "Save Ginny Weasley" where they sing, "Are you petrified of being petrified?" and the song "The Godfather." where the gothic or mock-morbid line "Why do I always think that I am going to die?" is sung to an up-beat tune.

For the Harry Potter fandom, Harry and the Potters refer to words and phrases in the books, including Hogwarts, Harry's Firebolt, Felix Felicis, the Flying Car, wizard chess, platform nine and three-quarters, The Burrow, the three-headed dog Fluffy, Mrs. Norris, the basilisk, The Marauder's Map, various spells and incantations, and the Invisibility Cloak.

Harry and the Potters with its strong persona or theme is as much a performance art project as it is a rock band. Musically, they sound much like other indie rock music with the exception that the band adheres to a novel conceit: the Harry Potter books will inspire the lyrics. As Joe said in a 2005 interview, "We try to take the themes from the books and amplify them." Their musical sound is described as "simple, catchy rock – think The White Stripes crossed with Raffi – where everyone sings along which is easy because in songs like 'Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock' the title is pretty much the only line." Another reviewer’s ear hears "a touch of the Ramones in their ultra simple lyrics."

The band is organized quite simply with Paul and Joe playing their songs in a simple basic guitar-synth-and-drums indie pop style and they sing in the semi-deadpan way; a review found the vocal delivery similar to that of They Might Be Giants. The raison d’être of the band is to put enough energy and spirit into their songs to make them fun.

The band is not musically polished. Paul has joked that, if they had known of the band’s popularity, they might have made "an effort to sing in tune. But it’s hard to anticipate that sort of thing when you’re just writing silly songs and recording them in your living room over a weekend.". While musicianship is not the strength of the band, Paul says that the fans "know we're not the best singers and keyboard players, but we're okay. And they think, well, I could do that, too. I think that’s really encouraging to people ..." Paul sees the brothers as a "bridge between this mainstream phenomena of Harry Potter and the indie rock underground. Plus, we’re also pretty strong adherents to the DIY ideal." The two brothers promote this ideal of making music independently and have fused the legions of fans on to the DIY free-for-all of indie rock and punk music, albeit of the silly kind.

The Washington Post describes the brothers as having vast quantities of both passion and ability to engage an audience: the "combination of their happy, who-cares personalities and Harry Potter fanaticism has cast a spell over book-loving teens across the country." Paul said, "the band is neither geeky nor cool but 'geeky-cool'. I think the indie-rock community at the very least realizes we're taking a very DIY approach to this."

## Campaigning and activism

In 2005 the duo co-founded the non-profit organization The Harry Potter Alliance with Andrew Slack, Seth Reibstein and Sarah Newberry, an organization that uses the Harry Potter books as a platform for inspiring real-world activism, which amongst other activities, helps "wake the world up" to the genocide in Darfur. The projects invites its members to inform their local senator to support the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act. The Harry Potter Alliance raises awareness for these projects by holding wizard rock concerts and by selling memorabilia to help fund these campaigns.

Harry and the Potters have also collaborated the Harry Potter Alliance compilation album Rocking Out Against Voldemedia, with a song entitled "Don't Believe It". The purpose of the album was to achieve the right to free press and against media consolidation by asking site viewers to contact their member of Congress to support S 2332, the "Media Ownership Act of 2007." Paul said their third EP, the 2007 The Enchanted Ceiling was recorded in their living room.

Harry and the Potters actively promote literacy. Another example of this literary activism is the reference to Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center in the song "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock", which contains the verse, "And we won't let the Dark Lord ruin our party/ Just like Tipper Gore tried with the PMRC."

## Legacy and influence

Harry and the Potters have influenced similar acts, such as Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows, and The Remus Lupins. Wizard rock bands generally play all-ages shows at libraries, bookstores and schools, as the promotion of reading is a hallmark of the genre. In turn, because of their active promotion of literacy, young-adult and teen librarians have been promoting the band. While Harry and the Potters would become notable for making libraries their primary venue, Joe DeGeorge did not see a future in the modest venues: "I think we thought we'd play a few libraries." Paul added, "We thought it would be short-lived. We weren't like super fans, so we didn't understand this whole (Harry Potter) subculture when we started." As The Washington Post wrote, "wizard rock is an escape into a different world – a world of non-judgmental fun where grown-ups dress as wizards, evil is vanquished by song, and reading is cool." The peculiar success of Harry and the Potters has led Paul to "sense a growing affection for us amongst other musicians" and at home. The Boston Phoenix has called Harry and the Potters the "Pink Floyd of Potterdom."

In 2005 there was a tidal wave of new wizard rock bands. The brothers' do-it-yourself musical ethos has caught on with bands forming as fellow Potter fans are picking up instruments for the first time. Like Harry and the Potters, these new bands also take on the persona, or dress as a Harry Potter-themed character. Though most fans of the music are previous fans of Harry Potter, some bands have attracted listeners outside of the Harry Potter fanbase. Paul and Joe are aware of around 200 other Harry Potter-related rock bands who at least record and post songs on the Internet. The Boston Phoenix wondered—in spite of fully booked calendars—how long wizard rock would last once there are no new stories to riff on, as their musical identity is contingent on the lasting success and popularity of a book series. "In some ways", said Paul, "we want to tie things off and consider it a done deal. We've always viewed this as a project that had a finite life and end point."

## Discography

- Harry and the Potters (2003)
- Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock! (2004)
- Harry and the Potters and the Power of Love (2006)
- Lumos (2019)

Harry Potter fandom rock band

Alternative rock groups from Massachusetts


Liverpool dockers' dispute (1995–1998)

The Liverpool Dockers' dispute was a lengthy dispute between dockers, their employers Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC) and Torside Ltd, which lasted for twenty-eight months between 1995 and 1998 in Liverpool, England. Although considered a strike, it was strictly a lockout as the employers, Mersey Docks, sacked the dockers for breach of contract when they refused to cross a picket line set up by their sacked Torside Limited colleagues. Initially, five Torside workers were dismissed following a dispute regarding overtime pay, who in turn formed a picket line that other dockers refused to cross in solidarity.

Various celebrities and high-profile figures, including footballer Robbie Fowler and singer Noel Gallagher, expressed and showed their support during the dispute, either through public awareness or financial support. Despite the election success of a Labour government in 1997, this did not help towards ending the dispute, given the new administration failed to reverse anti-trade union legislation enacted by the former Conservative administration.

The media's reaction to the dispute was unenthusiastic – the BBC's political correspondent for Liverpool suggested that editors did not find the story appealing while other organisations portrayed the dockers as dinosaurs. The British tabloid press did not start to cover the dispute until the international press became aware via communication over the Internet, which had been used by dockers to engage with worldwide trade unions.

The dockers had previously been described by Lloyd's List as "the most productive workforce in Europe". The dispute was never officially recognised by their union due to a ballot not being undertaken prior to the walkout, although the union did offer support financially and helped towards settlement negotiations. Various settlement offers were made by Mersey Docks and subsequently rejected by the dockers during the course of the dispute. By the time a settlement was negotiated and accepted in 1998, the conflict had become one of the longest disputes in labour history.

## Background

At the heart of the dispute was a belief that Mersey Docks were seeking to reintroduce a casual workforce. The National Dock Labour Scheme had been established in 1947, responsible for defining workers' rights, payment and training within a national dockers register; a National Dock Labour Board was also set up, comprising representatives from the unions and employers in equal measure, although in doing so afforded unions significant control over recruitment. The scheme, which had protected employment terms and conditions as well as wages and benefits, was abolished in 1989, a decision which was opposed by unions who called a national dock strike against the abolition, yet was defeated and followed with many dock unions becoming derecognised. Liverpool was the last port to cease strike action against the dispute. Prior to the scheme's dissolution, dockers had described going to work as "a real pleasure" in a "more relaxed atmosphere", although hard work was still expected and earnings had to be fought for. Following the scheme's abolishment, Mersey Docks assured dockers that casual labour would not return to the docklands and continued, albeit alone amongst ports across Britain, to recognise the dockers' union.

An aggressive stance was adopted by Mersey Docks towards its relations with the dockers, with regulations being introduced towards the end of the 1980s requiring dockers to be available for work at all times, including days off. Dockworkers saw their living standards and income gradually eroded in order to ensure that trade union relations with dock companies remained cost-effective. From 1983 to 1989, docker numbers nationally fell to 9,400 from 14,631, while the tonnage workload that each docker handled increased three-fold.

As dockers retired, their jobs were typically replaced by sub-contracted workers under different working conditions, typically with Torside Limited. Between 1989–1992, around 80% of dockers left the industry, while the number of employees between 1989–1995 fell by over half, from 1,100 to 500. Although docker numbers decreased, the volumes handled by the port were increasing, from around 20 million tonnes in 1988 to over 30 million tonnes in 1997. The number of Liverpool dockers employed during the 1960s was 12,000, yet this had dropped to 6,000 by 1980. Workers wanting to enter the dock trade, often the sons of established dockers, had to do so via sub-contracted firms due to the lack of jobs available. The conditions of these jobs would ultimately create the conditions that resulted in the dispute.

In 1993, Mersey Docks worked towards imposing harsher employment contracts, including more working hours that required dockers to be available "at any time", knowing it would be rejected by the dockers and their union alike. To ensure dockers accepted the revised contracts, Mersey Docks advertised new jobs locally, receiving thousands of applications and interviewing many, yet no single individual was employed on a permanent basis. In a state of confusion and apprehension, dockers accepted the new contracts, despite initially rejecting them outright. From this period through to the start of the dispute, individual dock workers were harassed and intimidated for various reasons and by 1995, 170 faced disciplinary proceedings. Many of the dockers felt their lives were restricted by the unstructured working hours, which may have involved little-to-no notice requirement to work during the night. Surveys of the time showed that the new procedures were taking their toll on the workforce and affecting morale, while over 85% were concerned about the longer working hours. Of those surveyed, over half felt that standards of health and safety were severely compromised, as rates of accidents increased.

## Events

### Dispute origins

On 25 September 1995, sub-contractor Torside Limited were in dispute with its workers regarding overtime pay, resulting in five employees being dismissed. The sacked dockers formed a picket line which fellow Torside dockers refused to cross, ultimately resulting in the company dismissing all 80 of its workforce. Dockers directly employed by Mersey Docks similarly refused to cross the picket line in support of their fellow dockers. After three days, Mersey Docks declared that the dockers had dismissed themselves by not crossing the picket line, resulting in 300 of the 380 strong work force being dismissed for breach of contract. Labour laws passed by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government of the 1980s and 1990s, such as the Employment Act 1980, made it illegal to take part in secondary action, except in limited circumstances. The Employment Act 1990 made the limited circumstances also unlawful and unions could be taken to court if they organised secondary actions. While picketing, dockers were surrounded by police and private security guards, yet stood firm, buoyed by support from celebrities such as musicians and footballers, defying Mersey Docks' strategy of waiting until the pickets diminished.

Within the first few weeks of the dispute, local parliamentary representatives met with Mersey Docks to consider a progressive solution and attempted to instill the importance of what it meant to dockers and their families alike. Robert Parry, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Riverside, was inundated with letters from dockers and their families who were astonished and bewildered at the thought of being unemployed. In October 1995, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Garston Eddie Loyden gave a speech in the House of Commons, in which he said:

> It is 1995, and we are returning to the dark days of threatened casualisation. I believe that that is a serious threat. I believe that people are entitled to work with dignity under conditions that are human, and to be part of the process of developing the industry in the way that they have.
> At one time, the dockers were the butt of the jokes of some poor comedians, but they themselves have a sense of humour that no one can match and they are men, in that sense, who are proud to be dockers. They are proud of the work they do and proud of the port in which they work, and so are their families and friends and their communities.

Some dockers were offered new contracts, subject to alteration by the Mersey Docks. As a ballot had not been held, the union declared the strike action to be unofficial, meaning the strikers were in breach of contract with Mersey Docks. Mersey Docks terminated contracts and advertised for replacement labour within 24 hours, at lower rates of pay and under different conditions. An offer was made by Mersey Docks the following month for £10,000 per docker, which was rejected. Lloyd's List had previously described the dockers as "the most productive workforce in Europe".

### Support and public campaign

Within 3 months, Transport and General Workers' Union leader Bill Morris expressed a desire to support the dockers by voting to establish a hardship fund and welcomed promises by foreign unions to boycott ships using the Merseyside terminals. In December 1995, three sacked dockers formed a picket line in New York which local workers refused to cross. The timing of the dispute coincided with the emergence of the World Wide Web, with dockers among the first to embrace the technology to communicate their plight beyond the national media. After 14 months, the dispute had been running longer than the miners' strike of 1984–85.

Throughout the dispute, dockers waged a high-profile public campaign for their reinstatement and allied with dockers worldwide and support groups such as Reclaim the Streets. Organised workers were generally unwilling to take solidarity action through fear of victimisation, with bitter defeats such as that of the 1985 miner's strike still fresh in memory. A Mersey Docks spokesman suggested in July 1996 that the dispute was "winding down", claiming the new workforce were 30–40 per cent more productive. Around this time, dockers rejected an offer via postal ballot to reinstate 40 jobs, with a pay-off settlement of £25,000 () offered for the rest of the sacked workforce.

A T-shirt was designed and printed in September 1996 as part of a public campaign to bring attention to the strike by incorporating the Calvin Klein "CK" into the word "doCKer" with the words "500 Liverpool dockers sacked since September 1995". The T-shirt was worn by some celebrities, most famously by Robbie Fowler during a goal celebration while playing for Liverpool. Some shirts, costing £5 each, were sold at music gigs and in total reached sales of nearly 50,000 and helped towards the family hardship fund.

### Latter stages

Mersey Docks' then chief executive, Trevor Furlong, suggested talks towards reaching a settlement were ongoing in February 1997, although suggested the resistance from dockers in not holding a secret ballot was hindering progress talks. Hopes of a resolution were high upon the election of Tony Blair's Labour government in 1997 given the government's 14% financial share in Mersey Docks, although the dockers were unaware that the new government would seek to retain previous economic policies and offer no help towards resolving the dispute.

The country's trade union establishment made its expression of contempt clear during the 1997 Trades Union Congress annual conference, suggesting the only place for dockers who had sought support of trade unionists worldwide was "on the pavement outside the hall, with a collection bucket". The Transport and General Workers' Union biennial conference in July 1997 called upon the new Labour government to intervene and support efforts to reinstate sacked dockworkers, but the government failed to offer any support.

In the latter part of 1997, Merseyside Police increased their presence and actions towards dockers picketing, with 13 dockers arrested in the weeks around August 1997, three of whom were shop stewards, while other dockers who had previously been arrested were prohibited by bail conditions from being within 25 foot of the picket line.

### Settlement

Mersey Docks made numerous offers throughout the course of the dispute, which were all voted down by the picketing dockers. In October 1997, Morris ordered a postal secret ballot to determine whether the dockers would accept a £28,000 settlement redundancy package (); of the 310 ballots counted, only 97 ballots, representing just under a third of responses, voted to accept. Following the ballot, Mersey Docks made the same offer on an individual basis for a limited period of time, with assurances that it would remain confidential. In an attempt to break the deadlock, sacked dockers offered to establish a direct supply unit controlled by the workers, to replace casual contracted labour on the basis that Mersey Docks reinstated the sacked workforce. This proposal was rejected by Mersey Docks, who instead continued to pursue a casual and privatised workforce.

By January 1998, 258 former dockworkers remained in dispute, following 60 choosing to accept the settlement from Mersey Docks the previous October. A former foreman called on Mersey Docks to return to the negotiating table, believing the dispute had gone on for too long and was affecting livelihoods. Mersey Docks refused to enter into any further negotiations, re-affirming their position that October's offer was final. Less than two weeks later on 26 January 1998, the dockers ultimately accepted a settlement with continuity of pensions but without job reinstatement. The settlement was limited to around two-thirds of the former workforce, with the other third receiving financial support from the sale of a music CD titled "Rock The Dock". At a length of two and a half years, the dispute became one of the longest in British industrial relations history.

## Aftermath

The strike failed in its declared objectives, although it provided a modern example of social movement unionism in the United Kingdom, with the Socialist Workers Party describing Liverpool as "symbolic of the collective solidarity inside the working class movement". The Socialist Party, known as the Militant tendency prior to 1997, claimed nothing further could have been done, suggesting that "the union needs reclaiming" for the working class. There is no single reason for the length of the dispute, although the area's militant history of trade unionism, coupled with a lack of other jobs the dockers could take, were contributing factors.

Following the dispute, some dockers bought a semi-derelict bar named The Casablanca on Hope Street in Liverpool city centre, later renamed to The Casa. Opened on Christmas Eve 2000, the bar was purchased using the £127,000 fee received from writing the Channel 4 television drama Dockers about the events and was opened as a community hub that offered advice and help for those in need. Between the years 2000–2015, an estimated £10 million worth of free advice was offered. The funding source is primarily from the main bar, whilst small offices on the upper floors provide support and training facilities.

With the passage of time, the bitterness felt among dockworkers had reduced. In 2012, General Secretary of Unite the Union Len McCluskey, himself a former dockworker, invited sacked dockers to return to the docks for the first time since the dispute ended. The intention was to help bring unionisation back to the docks by offering sacked dockers the opportunity to share their experience and knowledge with the 280 dockworkers in Liverpool.

## Union involvement

The union did not officially recognise the dispute, justifying their stance by suggesting anti-union laws prevented them from further involvement. The union was keen to avoid financial penalties and wanted to ensure a continued working relationship with Mersey Docks. All aspects of the dispute were controlled and managed by the union, via the Shop Stewards Committee, which declared full solidarity with the leadership. Despite this, within 18 months, relations between the union and dockers had deteriorated, in particular with Bill Morris, who came under scrutiny for misleading statements. Although the union did not officially support the dispute, it is believed to have contributed up to £700,000 () towards the dockers' hardship fund and supported them with premises towards helping to negotiate a settlement.

One docker discovered through a discussion with the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union that they had been willing to grant dockers an interest free loan of £250,000 () to help towards running costs, yet the dockers' own General Secretary had blocked it, indicating the disparity in support between other trade unions and the dockers' own union. The dispute leaders sought no industrial support from other unions, instead opting to organise an international campaign in the hope of gaining support and backing from worldwide trade unions. Whilst the objective in seeking international support was to hope Mersey Docks backtracked on their stance to casualise the workforce, the ultimate consequence was isolation of the dockers, particularly at a national level.

## Responses

### Media coverage

The national press did not start covering the dispute until around two months after it started. The BBC's Liverpool correspondent, Kevin Bocquet, disclosed that he had covered the dispute in only four pieces for television and radio apiece within the first fourteen months of the dispute, suggesting editors found it less than appealing to cover the news as they questioned how it affected the economy. Initially, little was published about the dispute among the national media, who tended to portray the dockers as "dinosaurs from another age". The national media did not take notice until international organisations became aware via Internet communication channels, who offered their support, whilst observers at the time suggested that British newspapers only started covering the dispute once the international press became aware and converged upon Liverpool.

The Internet offered an opportunity for dockers to engage with worldwide trade unionists without needing to channel messages via their own union and government. Dockers concluded within the first few months that their best chance to gain support was by spreading their message globally and hoping dockers worldwide supported their plight, such as boycotting ships sailing to or from Liverpool. Picket lines abroad were also arranged to work around the legal restrictions of setting up secondary picket lines in Britain.

Until late 1996, ITV show This Morning was broadcast at Liverpool's Albert Dock, yet failed to mention or discuss the dispute and struggles of dockers picketing just miles away from the studio; when questioned, the programme producer suggested that "people just don't want to know".

### Political reaction

In late 1997, the newly elected Labour government discarded appeals to its leadership and former hard-left to reverse anti-trade union legislation enacted by the former Conservative administration. Appeals from dockers for Labour to use its 14% share in Mersey Docks to help towards their reinstatement were unsuccessful. Consequently, it brought about a request from the government for the union leader Bill Morris to hastily end the dispute, at the former dockers' expense, with the termination of all hardship payments and the acceptance that the jobs would not be reinstated. Tony Blair believed the dockers were ultimately responsible for the defeat through an unwillingness to alter their own views and "long-standing abuse of monopoly power". and would later provoke a trade dispute in 2002 following the collapse of relations with union bosses with his stance on the 2002 firefighter's dispute; Bill Morris suggested around this time that it was difficult to find differences between the Labour and Conservative parties.

### Worldwide solidarity

Dockers worldwide aligned themselves in support and solidarity of the Liverpool dockers. In December 1995, three months after the start of the dispute, dockers in New York refused to cross a picket line set up by three Liverpool dockers and nearly cost Liverpool the business of American shipping company Atlantic Containers, who threatened to pull out of the port. The shipping company, then one of Mersey Docks' largest customers with an estimated annual value of £4 million (), ultimately did pull out of the port in June 1996, citing the sympathy action taken by American dockers, although resumed services the following month. On 20 January 1997, almost a year before the dispute would end, the dockers designated it the day of "international solidarity", with solidarity actions in around 27 countries including unlawful work standstills. Beyond moral support, Japanese dockers contributed around 1 million yen, whilst the dockers union in America donated nearly \$100,000.

In September 1997, 30 ports worldwide halted work for 24 hours, bringing the US East Coast to a standstill. Elsewhere during the dispute, ports in Japan and South Africa came to a halt, with dockers in the latter stopping their work "in solidarity with the Liverpool dockers who stood by us during apartheid". On 8 September 1997, around 50,000 dockers worldwide in 16 countries acted in solidarity. In November 1997, Jimmy Nolan, Merseyside Port Shop Steward secretary said:

> Mersey Docks had suffered a 23 per cent reduction in the number of ships using Liverpool since the dismissal in September 1995. This is not only a 'British' question. We express our deepest gratitude to waterfront workers acting in solidarity, but they are also acting on their behalf. Shipping lines depend for their profits on fast turnaround in the ports. They want a docile workforce to put up with massive and inhuman attacks on working conditions and trade union rights.

## Financial impact

### Mersey Docks

During 1996, the dispute cost Mersey Docks around £800,000 (). Profits for Mersey Docks fell for the first time in 10 years in 1995, to £31.7 million, down from £33.6 million the year before with the trend continuing into the following year. Previous to this, between 1988 and 1994, profits had increased nearly five-fold. The value of shares in Mersey Docks varied during the dispute, such as the suspension and resumption of ACL services in 1996, the latter which resulted in a share spike of 10 per cent.

Picket lines which blocked and restricted access to the port cost Mersey Docks "millions of pounds" through lost labour hours and shipment delays.

### Hardship payments and donations

Many of the dockers faced financial hardship during the course of the dispute, with more than 90 dockers' homes under repossession orders by 1997. Donations were received from the public through postal orders or money in envelopes, sometimes anonymously, as well as having grocery shopping paid for or donated to a doorstep. An 84-year-old former miner's wife turned up at the picket line in late 1997, offering savings left to her by her late husband to help towards the hardship fund.

By the end of 1997, dockers' families faced unmanageable financial circumstances, with the weekly £12 union payments inadequate (an official strike would have warranted a payment three times that amount). Mersey Docks kept their severance offer of £28,000 available for acceptance, which the most desperate initially accepted, followed by a stewards recommendation to end the dispute for the sake of all remaining striking dockers. By the end of the dispute, four dockers had died. Celebrities such as Jo Brand and Noel Gallagher also did fundraisers to help towards financial costs and needs.

## In popular culture

British director Ken Loach made a documentary about the strike, The Flickering Flame, in 1996. A group of sacked dockers wrote the script for a film about their experiences, titled Dockers, with the help of Liverpool writer Jimmy McGovern and the author Irvine Welsh. The film was broadcast by Channel 4 in July 1999 and portrayed the union leader Bill Morris as a traitor. Although some lines are taken in verbatim, others are written as real life events experienced by families of the dockers.

Anarchist pop group Chumbawamba performed their hit single "Tubthumping" live at the 1998 Brit Awards in support of the Liverpool dockers. They changed the words of the song to "New Labour sold out the dockers; just like they'll sell out the rest of us!" Later in the evening band member Danbert Nobacon jumped onto Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's table proclaiming "This is for the Liverpool Dockworkers!" before emptying a bucket full of iced water all over him.

The Billy Bragg song "Never Cross a Picket Line" was made in honour of the dockers picket.

## See also

- Liverpool docks strikes
- Social Movement Unionism
- Transport & General Workers' Union (T&G)
- United Socialist Party (UK)

Dispute between dockers and their employers