Going through my files and boxes of papers from the early 80s, I came across a document called “Global Outpost; The Working Class Experience of Big Business in the NE of England 1964-1978”. I wrote it with Terry Austrin in 1980 and it was based on interviews and discussions with workers and shop stewards in various branch plants of multi-national corporations operating on the old Durham coalfield. It was part of a broader research project looking at the transformations in working class life that had accompanied the closures of the coal mines in the 1960s. We had produced it as a Discussion Document, which was deliberately descriptive, using several accounts of changes in work and labour relations as an introduction to conversations about possible future strategy and tactics. We involved the regional office of the General and Municipal Workers Union, and they took 100 copies, devoted the front page of their newspaper to it and helped us set up further meetings with other shop stewards and union officials The shop stewards committee at Vickers Elswick plant took another 50 copies and there were scores of requests from other committees, local libraries and individuals, mainly in the North East but also nationally. I have written about this in “Engaging Labour” and how the paper took on a Samizdat quality being passed around and talked about.
So, what happened to it? Well through the other meetings and interviews we collected more information on how different corporations operated, each raising questions about the prospects and limitations of trade union organisation across a region with an economy dominated by branch plants – a global outpost. This would have allowed us to extend the document and the series editor at Fontana was very keen for it to be commissioned as a book and for it to be brought out quickly. Fontana had published “Strike at Pilkington’s” and Richard Hyman ‘s book “Strike” along with other well-known collections on work and labour, so, we were pleased. However for reasons I can’t recall, the company took a distinct change of direction, moving away from any interest in the book and the deal fell through, leaving us disappointed.
At that time, I was in close contact with Henry Friedman, the ex-convenor at Ford’s River Plant at Dagenham who had been centrally involved in the sewing machinist strike there. Wheelchair bound, Henry was, and saw himself as, a labour strategist, and when I visited him in Bures in Suffolk, we talked about prospects for developing trade union combine committees. I had sent him a copy of “Global Outpost” and while he felt that in letting activists tell their own story we had produced an extremely valuable document, he wrote that there was a danger that “an unremitting recital of misfortune” could engender a “mood of gloom and defeatism”. In his view what was needed at that time was “a fighting spirit and recognition that at some point it is necessary to take a stand regardless – “their Waterloo or ours’”.
At that time, it seemed that only the miners could make such a stand and in 1981 they were on strike. From then on, they became the centre of our attention pushing “Global Outpost” into the background. Now, as an historical document, it may be worth a read. Terry and I went on to publish “Masters and Servants”, based on another discussion document and the first of two books we had planned on the miners of Durham. We were working on the second until five years ago when, tragically Terry’s died.
So there is the story of Global Outpost as I remember it. I do hope you enjoy reading the scan:
In sociology human-animal interaction has previously been of little interest and has rarely been studied. When it has been given attention this has most often involved considering animals as entirely separate species and “objects” in relation to human beings. However findings like these, studies by biologists of living animals in their natural settings, and documentary programmes such as those by David Attenborough have revealed many of the similarities between humans and animals. Animals are now viewed as sentient and imaginative beings in their own right. All this has become clear in my personal life. At home we have five cats, two horses and two rescue ponies. We also have a dog: a springer spaniel called Jack. They are all very much “part of the family”, but this is a story about Jack and me.
I got used to finding my slippers in the compost heap. The builders who visited found their gloves and caps disappearing, as well as their paint brushes and hammers. When anything was lost the shout would go up for “Jack!” Soon this little dog had come to dominate all our conversations, usually accompanied by laughter. People became convinced that he had a sense of humour. He would take a glove, run away with it and drop it when asked, only to run back to take the other one of the pair where you had left it! One of our friends was asked by his work mates why he kept smiling and he replied: “I’m just thinking about that bloody dog”. For us, he had become the centre of the house, with an excited greeting every morning, looking forward to the day, following us wherever we went; brilliant and happy with the cats and the sheep and with people. Oddly enough the dog had made it easier for us to interact with people who visited us here on the farm.
Our vet, Bernice Fitzmaurice, was worried. She looked in Jack’s mouth, and his cold white gums indicated that he was in shock. He was put on a drip and kept in over the weekend for tests. She thought that he might have Addison’s Disease, a rare condition in dogs but not impossible given his symptoms.
Bernice explained that they see Addison’s as “the great pretender”. It mimics many other conditions and in their training vets are alerted to “things that don’t respond as they should to treatment”. They look out for any unsteadiness or hind limb weaknesses and are especially alerted by intestinal problems, or vomiting and dehydration and, as with humans, they would initially check on the electrolytes and see any warning signs of low sodium and high potassium. This is what they did with Jack and, as with humans, followed it with the Synacthen test which confirmed that his adrenal gland wasn’t working. 
However things can go off the rails for him and for me. Jack had broken his leg when he was still a young dog and he had endured the surgery and the recovery period with great fortitude. However when he needed a further operation to remove the metal work in his leg, the fact that he had Addison’s Disease was a cause of concern requiring the surgeon to provide steroids during the operation and us to (temporarily) add hydrocortisone to his tablet regime when we got him home.
We have also been good for him. If you don’t have Addison’s Disease it’s hard to understand what it is and how it operates. We’ve learned that it’s important to spot the signs in me and this helps us with Jack. It means that we have been able (so far) to intervene when things are out of kilter for him and to prevent an acute crisis.
Huw Beynon 