On this day in 1961, steel workers in London began a wildcat strike, causing their plant to lose over 27,000 man hours. The strike was defeated and all participants fired, a failure one worker account blamed on union management.

British Light Steel Pressings (BLSP) was a company at Warple Way, Acton, London producing bodies for the vehicle industry.

A spate of 82 mainly unofficial strikes (i.e., "wildcat" strikes, taking place without union authorization) in 1961 caused the loss of over 27,000 man hours at the BLSP plant, which in turn caused the loss of 17,000 man hours at other plants owned by the BLSP parent company, "Rootes". The strike was chronicled by labor historian Ken Weller, who authored a pamphlet discussing the strike in detail, titled "The B.L.S.P Dispute".

According to Weller, workers were unable to get union management to address their concerns about suspected upcoming layoffs. On September 4th, 1961, workers began a wildcat strike, walking off the job without union authorization.

Weller states that the strike failed, undermined by the workers' own unions. Ultimately, all participating workers were fired, and the strike was broken.