Ford Factory, Dagenham
1968 was a largely significant year within the 20th century, it was a year in which much appeared to be changing quickly. Soviet power faced huge internal challenges in Czechoslovakia and Poland, anti-war protests were heightening in the USA, and Lindon B. Johnson passed another Civil Rights Act. The 1960s seemed to be a decade where freedom, equality, and peace would triumph, that the ideals of the hippie movement could prevail.
However, by the end of 1968 it may have appeared that not
much had at all changed. Russian tanks rolled through eastern Europe, bringing
in a decade of unparalleled suppression, Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated, and some of the Vietnam War’s bloodiest massacres would occur,
prolonging the war for almost another 10 years.
While the bleakness that lay ahead for many during the 1970s
may overshadow the optimism and hope of the previous decade, its important that
the achievements of the 1960s are not forgotten. As well as the Civil Rights
afforded to African Americans, the 1960s also brought forward a second wave of
feminism. New conversations about reproductive rights, domestic abuse and gender
equality were weaving their way into popular discourse. One place where such
leaps occurred was an unexpected Ford motor-factory in Dagenham, East London.
Opening in 1931, Ford’s Dagenham site has been a staple of the British car industry, producing over 10 million cars and 39 million engines throughout its history. The site greatly contributed to the British war effort during the 1940s, supplying the nation with both military and agricultural vehicles. Although the factories production history is in itself impressive, it was the industrial action which occurred there in 1968 which gave the factory its place within the history books.
Like many factories during the period, women worked at the
site, employed as sewing mechanists producing car seat covers. Although these
women were integral to production at the site, as would be showcased over the
coming weeks, they were paid as ‘semi-skilled’ workers, as apposed to men at
the site who earned more on a ‘skilled-worker’ rate. This practice was common
during the 1960s and women would often be paid less than men within the
workplace.
However, this practice was challenged on the 7th
of June 1968. After a meeting in the car park of the factory, all 187 women who
worked at the site walked out on strike. The strike quickly gained national
attention with fellow machinists at Ford's Halewood Body & Assembly plant
walking out in solidarity. The strike would go on to last three weeks, forcing
all car production at the Dagenham site to halt.
The situation was eventually resolved with the intervention of Labour’s Barbara Castle, when it was agreed that women at the site would earn 92% of the men’s wage, as opposed to the original 85%. Although women at Ford did not gain complete pay equality for another 16 years, with another strike taking place in 1984, the 1968 strike was a huge moment for gender pay equality in Britain, directly leading to the 1970 Equal Pay Act.
The Dagenham strike also had huge implications for the
future of Britain’s trade unions, and wider Labour movement. Up until this
point unions had remained largely male-dominated spheres, with industries such
as coal and steel taking centre stage. Along with de-industrialisation, major
strikes such as the one at Ford meant that women continued to play a more
central role within the future of British unions.
As of 2018, the most unionised industries in Britain were
education, public administration and healthcare, all of which are all
female-dominated industries. As well as making up a bulk of unions modern
membership, women have also made huge steps within leadership positions, seen
most notably by the election of Frances O’Grady as the first female General
Secretary of the TUC in 2013.
While it can be easy to view Britain’s industrial history as
one of working men in flat caps and overalls, its important that the
contribution of women isn’t forgotten. The strike at Dagenham’s Ford factory in
1968 was a landmark event in securing workers rights and established women as a
staple of Britain’s industrial legacy.
Jordan Harris
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