The Ford Sewing-Machinists' Strike, 1968, Dagenham
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Moss, Jonathan Thomas (2015) Women, workplace militancy and political subjectivity in Britain, 1968-1985. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/7259/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Women, Workplace Militancy and Political Subjectivity in Britain, 1968-1985 Jonathan Thomas Moss Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy School of History College of Arts University of Glasgow December 2015 Abstract This thesis examines the experiences and political subjectivity of women who engaged in workplace protest in Britain between 1968 and 1985. The study covers a period that has been identified with the ‘zenith’ of trade-union militancy in British labour history. The women’s liberation movement also emerged in this period, which produced a shift in public debates about gender roles and relations in the home and the workplace. Women’s trade union membership increased dramatically and trade unions increasingly committed themselves to supporting ‘women’s issues’. Industrial disputes involving working-class women have frequently been cited as evidence of women’s growing participation in the labour movement. However, the voices and experiences of female workers who engaged in workplace protest remain largely unexplored. This thesis addresses this space through an original analysis of the 1968 sewing- machinists’ strike at Ford, Dagenham; the 1976 equal pay strike at Trico, Brentford; the 1972 Sexton shoe factory occupation in Fakenham, Norfolk; the 1981 Lee Jeans factory occupation in Greenock, Inverclyde and the 1984-1985 sewing-machinists’ strike at Ford Dagenham. Drawing upon a combination of oral history and written sources, this study contributes a fresh understanding of the relationship between feminism, workplace activism and trade unionism during the years 1968-1985. In every dispute considered in this thesis, women’s behaviour was perceived by observers as novel, ‘historic’ or extraordinary. But the women did not think of themselves as extraordinary, and rather understood their behaviour as a legitimate and justified response to their everyday experiences of gender and class antagonism. The industrial disputes analysed in this thesis show that women’s workplace militancy was not simply a direct response to women’s heightened presence in trade unions. The women involved in these disputes were more likely to understand their experiences of workplace activism as an expression of the economic, social and subjective value of their work. Whilst they did not adopt a feminist identity or associate their action with the WLM, they spoke about themselves and their motivations in a manner that emphasised feminist values of equality, autonomy and self-worth. 1 Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. 2 List of Tables .................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 4 Author’s Declaration........................................................................................................................ 5 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Reconstructing and Interpreting Women’s Workplace Militancy ........................ 39 Section 1: Equal Pay Chapter 2: The Ford Sewing-Machinists’ Strike, 1968, Dagenham........................................ 68 Chapter 3: The Trico-Folberth Equal Pay Strike, Brentford, 1976. ...................................... 100 Section 2: The Right to Work Chapter 4: Sexton’s Shoe Factory Occupation, Fakenham, Norfolk, 1972. ........................ 130 Chapter 5: The Lee Jeans Factory Occupation, Greenock, 1981 ........................................... 159 Section 3: Skill Recogniton Chapter 6: The Ford Sewing-Machinists’ Strike, Dagenham, 1984-1985 ........................... 186 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................... 213 Appendix 1 .................................................................................................................................... 224 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 233 2 List of Tables Table 1.1: Earnings Table: Public and private sectors: average gross weekly earnings. p. 14 Table 1.2: Job segregation table: manual employees in low paid industries, 1975 and 1981. p. 18 Table 1.3: Proportions of men and women (aged over 16) as a percentage of employees within selected occupations, 1985 p. 18 Table 1.4: Representation of Women in Trade Unions, 1976 p. 26 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the people who gave up their time to share their memories with me and for providing a privileged insight into their past. I would also like to thank the staff at the TUC Library Collections, London Metropolitan University; The Women’s Library, London; The Glasgow Women’s Library; The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick; the STUC Archive, Glasgow Caledonian University, as well as the public libraries in Dagenham, Chiswick and Greenock. I would especially like to thank my supervisors, Maud Bracke and Lynn Abrams, whose guidance and encouragement has been invaluable since I was an undergraduate student. I am also grateful to the University of Glasgow, College of Arts for the funding that has enabled me to undertake this research. I wish to thank my family and friends for their patience, understanding, love and support. I would particularly like to thank Jenny for her calming influence and reassurance. Finally, I must thank my parents Carol, Andy and Ian, and my grandparents, Pat and Steve for all of their very much appreciated help and support. 4 Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree* at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Signature: Jonathan Moss * Chapter 5 examines the 1981 Lee Jeans factory occupation in Greenock, which was also the subject of my dissertation submitted for MLitt in History at the University of Glasgow in 2011. I have drawn upon an oral history interview I conducted with Margaret Wallace and some archival materials that were used in this research, but have reconsidered these sources in relation to the different aims of this thesis. I have since carried out another interview and accessed further documentary material. As a result, I have significantly developed my analysis and offered further insights into the meaning and nature of this dispute than the work submitted in 2011. 5 Abbreviations ACAS Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ACTT Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians AEF Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers APEX Association of Professional, Executive, Clerical and Computer Staff ASTMS Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs AUEW Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers CPSA Civil and Public Services Association COHSE Confederation of Health Service Employees CSU Civil Service Union EEC European Economic Community GMWU General Municipal Workers’ Union IRSF Inland Revenue Staff Foundation MRC Modern Record Centre, Warwick NALGO National and Local Government Officers Association NBPI National Board of Prices and Incomes NFWW National Federation of Women Workers NJACWER National Joint Action Campaign for Women’s Equal Rights NUFLAT National Union of Footwear Leather and Allied Trades NUGW National Union of General Workers NUHKW National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers NUT National Union of Teachers NUTGW National Union of Tailor and Garment Workers NUPE National Union of Public Employees NUVB National Union of Vehicle Builders PTA Paint, Trim and Assembly Shop STUC Scottish Trade Union Congress 6 SWP Socialist Workers’ Party TGWU Transport and General Workers Union TNA The National Archives TUC Trade Union Congress TWL The Women’s Library, London UCS Upper Clyde Shipbuilders USDAW Union of Shop and Distributive Allied Workers WAC Women’s Advisory Committee WLM Women’s Liberation Movement WTUL Women’s Trade Union League WWCC Working Women’s Charter Campaign 7 Introduction This thesis