‘TUC Day’ curated by Dave Haslam for Manchester Histories Festival
Creative Tourist
Manchester Histories Festival 2018 (7-11 June) is to celebrate 150 years since the formation of the Trades Unions Congress with a TUC Day curated by Dave Haslam taking place on Friday 8 June.
The day will encompass a series of events and film screenings that will lead people on a journey through some of the key places and spaces across Manchester and Salford that were instrumental in the formation of the Trades Unions Congress in 1868, which brought together representatives of different trades to debate collective action, signifying a landmark moment in the history of British trade unionism and politics. TUC Day is curated and led by DJ, writer and Manchester Histories creative consultant Dave Haslam, himself one of the figures behind Manchester’s radical spirit.
The events will be staggered throughout the day in diverse venues that collectively narrate the story from the Three Crowns Pub in Salford where the idea was first discussed, to the Mechanics Institute where the first official TUC meeting took place, to the People’s History Museum which is recognised as the national museum of democracy. The day reaches its climax with an onstage interview between Dave Haslam and the current TUC general secretary, and its first female leader, Frances O’Grady at Manchester Central Library, to shine a light on the present and future, as well as the past of the organisation.
