Today in Labor History September 7, 1976: Ian Davies, London social worker, won reinstatement after being demoted. He had been fired for being gay (after being entrapped by an undercover cop who approached him for sex in a public bathroom). His union, NALGO (National and Local Government Officers’ Association), fought and won reinstatement for him, but at a demoted status. So, 25 of his union members staged a wildcat strike, later approved by the union, which won him full reinstatement at his original grade.

The struggle for working-class LGBTQ rights in the UK really took off in 1972, with the establishment of gay and lesbian worker branches within NALGO. By 1976, they had won LGBTQ-inclusive policies within NALGO and were publishing their own union newsletter: NALGAY. Homosexuality had only recently been decriminalized in England and Wales (1967). In 1993, NALGO merged with two other unions to form UNISON.

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