The Upper Clyde Shipbuilders struggle of 1971 to 1972 is a justly celebrated instance of effective trade union campaigning and alliance-building.
Over six thousand jobs were threatened when the Clydeside shipyards were threatened with closure in July 1971: the trade unions developed a strategy which recognised that simply striking would lead to the government closing the shipyards for good, rather than allowing other options to be explored.
The Work-in demonstrated the absolute value that the threatened employees and their families and the wider community placed on their jobs and livelihoods - and made it difficult for right-wing politicians and the media to present them as ‘oppositional’. The workers were not refusing to work – indeed they were the only ones working and operating the shipyards until a change in policy was won.
On Wednesday 4 September, the Fairfield Heritage venue in Govan is screening two archive documentary films covering the UCS struggle, which won public support not only in Scotland but world-wide and forced a dogmatic government committed to economic free-market doctrines and to the rundown of yards to do an about turn and concede the worker’s case.
"Fighting for the Right to Work" - Reflections on the UCS Work-in 1971-2 runs in the afternoon from 2 pm and will finish by 4 pm. This event will be introduced by Danny Carrigan, former shipyard worker and Trade Union Official, who will share reflections and lead a short discussion on the lessons to be learned from the worker’s victory and consider if these can be carried through into our now much-changed industrial, political and legislative landscape.
Published 17 August 2024