The British government privatized its ports, and union dockworkers in Liverpool were being replaced with cheap short-term labor. When 20 workers were let go without warning by the Mersey Port Company, the remaining 400 went on strike.
事件起於 1995 年 9 月，因英國政府「港口私有化」政策、利物浦碼頭工會工人一一被廉價的臨時僱工取代，20 名工人遭到「默西港口公司」無預警解僱，其餘 400 名工人隨即展開罷工。