Last weekend, Equity members, staff and president Lynda Rooke returned to Dorset to attend Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival, the annual celebration of protest, solidarity and working-class history.
Run by the Trades Union Congress, the festival is a key date in the trade union calendar. The event commemorates the six Dorset farm workers who, in 1834, were arrested and transported to Australia for forming a trade union. Their struggle became a pivotal moment in the history of workers' rights and continues to inspire the trade union movement today.
Equity hosted a stall at the festival to engage with fellow trade unionists, activists, and families who attended the festival in their hundreds; sharing information about our union’s work across the entertainment industry and connecting with comrades across the movement. Lynda Rooke also took part in talks and panels over the weekend which took place alongside workshops, comedy and live music.
On the final day of the festival, Equity joined the traditional banner parade through the village of Tolpuddle, marching alongside our fellow unions. The parade culminated in a wreath laying at the grave of James Hammett, the only one of the six Martyrs buried in the village, with Lynda laying Equity’s wreath in our union’s colours.
You can find out more about the Tolpuddle Martyrs in this short video narrated by Equity member Maxine Peake.
