Dagenham Machinists’ Strike
Three women who had never been on strike before, their Union representative, and a member of Ford management relive the protest that changed working conditions for all women.
In the summer of 1968 a small group of women sewing machinists at the Ford factory in Dagenham went on strike. They were protesting about the re-grading of their jobs - they felt they’d been treated unfairly compared with the men working in the plant. They believed that because they were women, their work wasn’t valued, and they were determined to get equality. Within weeks they’d come close to stopping production at all Ford’s UK plants.
The women’s protest was soon taken up as a battle for equal pay and the strike was only ended when another woman – the Employment Secretary, Barbara Castle - invited the machinists to take tea in her office and talk over their problems. The women didn’t know it, but they were walking into the history books – their protest led directly to the passing of the Equal Pay Act.
Lil Grisley, Sheila Douglas and Violet Dawson remember the hard work and the fun of work in the factory. And they recall their outrage when they realised that they were being put in a lower grade than men doing less skilled work.
The women’s Union Convenor was Bernie Passingham. In the studio he’s reunited for the first time in more than 30 years with his opponent at the time – Sander Meredeen, who was a member of Ford management.
This episode of The Reunion inspired the 2010 film Made In Dagenham.
Producer: Louise Adamson
Series Producer: David Prest
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