Solidarity 135, 10 July 2008

The real story of Made in Dagenham

In June 1968 women sewing machinists in the Ford car plant in Dagenham took a stand for equal pay in a strike that stopped production for three weeks. They succeeded in getting abolished their lower “women’s rate” of pay and precipitated wider action: there were other equal pay strikes that year and the National Joint Action Campaign Committee for Women’s Equal Rights (NJACCWER) was formed by women trade unionists, who organised a demonstration for equal pay in 1969. Without the Ford women, there would have been no Equal Pay Act of 1970. Equal Pay Act of 1970 Equal pay had been a confused...

Left unity? Yes! But why is the “left” divided now?

There are a sizable number of “unite the left” calls, campaigns, conglomerates and projects in Britain now. Do any of those calling for “unity”, a “new Marxist Party”, etc., have any prospect of uniting? Not at all! The unity projects serve as mere hypocritical packaging for the real message — “come join us”! (The exception may be a small re-grouping between the International Socialist Group — Alan Thornett and Dr John Lister, a writer for the Stalinist Morning Star — and a few ex-Socialist Workers Party activists who sided with George Galloway when “Respect” split. The rumour that they will...

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