In the whole experience’
don’t shut up about that. But you lived through these things,’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, that’s just how it was.’”
Angelea adds: “I was so excited, in my head I was imagining the hair, the outfits, the good time at the social club my gran had told us about. I don’t even think I thought about the sexism and inequality. I knew about it but I didn’t think about it in any depth. And then when it actually happened I was really, really shocked.
“Walking into the factory, I couldn’t believe how cold it was, my fingers and toes were numb. We were using the pedals on the machine and I was useless anyway.
“And then we got our pay packets and I was in complete shock. First of all, I was the most unskilled worker in the factory anyway, with the lowest pay. I took that on the chin, but then the apprentice having three times my wage – I couldn’t believe it.”
Born in 1975, the same year as the 1970 Equal Pay Act was enforced, Emma, an employment and education training co-ordinator for Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, was voted in as shop steward when the show enters 1976. Emma says: “1968 was really difficult. It was a time when women were only starting to work and it was seen that if they went out to work it was because they wanted to, it wasn’t a necessity. It was still very much that the male was the breadwinner.
“When we entered ’73 we saw some changes being made and in ’76 the women were able to be part of the union and have a voice. 1976 was a very powerful time and a time for change. It was a very emotional time and the women then really fought to get to where they were. I was voted in as the shop steward so for me, that’s something I’ve never done.
“I just wanted to fight for these girls and felt really passionate about it. We really immersed ourselves in the whole experience. We didn’t go back to normal life after those days – I’d come home, Jason sits in the parlour with his feet up reading the paper, the girls were doing what they wanted to do and I was straight in the kitchen.”
Mary’s take on this is as straightforward as you’d expect. She explains: “When we got married Derek was in the cutting room and he had double the wages than I had. I didn’t want to kick up a fuss, but I also didn’t want to be on low wages too. But Polikoff’s said that’s just the way it is. We wouldn’t put up with it now, but the men did have more money, that’s how it was then.
“I went down to (upholstery factory) Christie Tyler and there the girls didn’t put up with it. We fought it down there and we almost got level with the men. But Polikoff’s wouldn’t budge. Years ago you accepted it, maybe we shouldn’t have but it was a man’s world.”
And if you thought Emma and her family couldn’t be any more of a fit for the show, the 43-year-old reveals that Polikoff’s has always been part of her life, even though it’s not been in business for almost 30 years.
“I actually lived a stone’s throw away from Polikoff’s. I remember seeing the buses with all the workers coming in and you’d see a flood of people walking up the street. You worked and lived and socialised with the same people. It was very close-knit because people didn’t travel to work like they do now.”
Tamara’s takeaway from the show is a great one to end on, as the 19-year-old admits she learnt much more than she thought she would.
“I thought I knew so much and in fact I knew so little. I thought we just ended up here, didn’t think about how we got here. I don’t think I appreciated, until the end of filming, what these women did to fight for us. These women fought so hard and I moan about the littlest things.”
Back In Time For The Factory is on BBC One Wales on Wednesday, September 12 at 8pm.