After a freak DIY accident which leads to the death of Terry Porter, teenager, Paul vows to work and save for a headstone for his father’s grave.
After a year as a paper roundy, Paul is weeks away from his savings target when one of his fellow paper roundies, Aisha, is sacked by austere Newsagent, Kemp. When Paul protests, Kemp sacks him too.
As Knotworth was once a proud coal mining town and his family were all union reps, Paul decides to set up a union for the paper roundies. He enlists Aisha, his best friend Lionel, and his alcoholic grandad, Bernard. They write a New Deal for the paper roundies and get the 20 roundies to join the union across the 4 newsagents across the town.
When they meet with the Newsagent Association, led by Kemp, but they reject the New Deal and the union.
Paul goads the union to go on strike. He ploughs his headstone fund into placards, banners and sign for the picket lines.
The roundies picket the shops; the Newsagents must deliver the rounds in their cars. That night, Paul sends some of the rougher roundies to slash the car tyres of the Newsagents. The next morning, the pickets watch as the Newsagents have to deliver the papers on foot.
Kemp calls the Police and the roundies are arrested and interviewed on suspected criminal damage to the cars. But a lack of direct evidence leads to their release, but they are cautioned to not picket the shops anymore.
Some members return to work after the arrest, and fractures appear in the union between strikers and strike-breakers.
Cracks are revealed between the militant Paul and the more cautious Aisha, Lionel and Bernard. They engineer Paul to be suspended from Union. At the same time, Kemp suspended from Newsagent Association and Deirdre takes over.
Aisha and Deirdre compose a compromise deal, but the union vote is deadlocked on whether to accept it.
In despair, Paul gets drunk and Paul sets up a one man picket on the statue of his great grandfather in the town square. When he slips, Bernard softens his landing and they both end up in Hospital.
But when Bernard dies of a sudden heart attack Paul blames himself again for killing another Porter.
Aisha asks Paul to consider the Compromise deal. Paul goes the next union meeting and talks in support of the Compromise deal much to the derision of his militant supporters. Paul is the deciding vote that accepts the compromise deal. The new compromise deal is signed by Aisha and Deirdre.
Paul discovers in, Bernard’s will he set aside the money for his headstone for Terry’s, helping Paul fulfil his promise.
When Paul visits his father and Bernard’s graves to see the new headstone he looks down in the valley to see all the roundies returning to work, with a better deal than they had before the union was born.
