This March marks the hundredth anniversary of one of the West of Scotland's many bitter strikes. It was in 1911 that the management of the Singer Sewing Machine factory in Clydebank, known for its harsh working conditions and its anti-union policies, decided to sack some women workers and then demand that another group of women workers take on the extra work at no extra remuneration. The women refused and on 21 March 1911, there was a walk out and strike. You can read about the Singer 1911 strike HERE.
In today's climate of cuts, pay freezes and rising unemployment we could do well to remember the women of the Singer factory who said, “enough is enough” and took direct action. The more you accept in cuts and hard conditions the more you will have to accept. You have to draw the line somewhere or continually see your conditions worsen. We have certainly reached the stage of “enough is enough”, so what will be our direct action?
SOLIDARITY.
