THE last surviving member of the Pentonville Five died on Wednesday, the Morning Star understands.

Bernie Steer, along with Vic Turner, Derek Watkins, Cornelius Clancy and Anthony Merrick, was arrested on a picket line in east London during the 1972 dock strikes and imprisoned for contempt of court.

The National Industrial Relations Court had issued an injunction barring picketing after the Midland Cold Storage Company put through an application.

Dockers at the Chobham Farm container depot in Newham were unofficially striking and picketing the site despite the injunction.

The Pentonville Five’s imprisonments lead to the TUC calling a general strike after a series of unofficial industrial actions began nationwide in solidarity.

Thousands of striking workers marched to London’s Pentonville prison where the five were being held.

They were released a week later.

Steer, a former shop steward, was a member of the National Amalgamated Stevedores and Dockers (NASD). Later the group merged with the Transport and General Workers’ Union, which then went on to form Unite. 

Mr Steer, whose cause of death was not immediately made clear, died just before the 50th anniversary of the action.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Bernie and the Pentonville Five remain an inspiration to trade unionists  – the shop stewards who stood up to unjust laws and were prepared to go to prison to defend workers’ rights.

“Our thoughts are with his loved ones today. The best way to ensure that the legacy of Bernie and the Five endures is to rebuild the trade union movement today and its foundation - the shop stewards movement. It’s time to raise the old banners which Bernie marched behind - the trade unions fighting without fear for jobs pay and conditions. Bernie would agree to that. No doubt."