Union will salute war heroine Jane
Paisley worker’s life will be celebrated at Sma’Shot Day
Trade union Unison will celebrate the life of a teacher murdered by the Nazis at Paisley’s Sma’Shot Day.
Bosses will unfurl a banner tomorrow in tribute to Jane Haining during the annual parade.
The former mill girl was killed for sheltering Jewish youngsters during World War II.
Mark Ferguson, Renfrewshire branch secretary for Unison, hailed her as a hero.
He said: “This is an important date in Paisley’s calendar commemorating the victory of our local weavers and drawing parallels to the many challenges workers face nowadays.
“This year’s event will be extra special as we commemorate Jane Haining and raise awareness of her sacrifice and service.
“We will also be celebrating the 100th anniversary of suffrage, Unison’s 25th anniversary and activists will be wearing green scarves in support of the Grenfell community.”
Sma’ Shot Day is one of the oldest workers’ rights festivals in the world.
It commemorates 19th-century weavers’ struggle for fair pay against mill bosses.
They had refused to pay for a key stitch used to hold shawls together.
The workers were forced to buy the thread themselves.
They protested and finally won a hard- fought battle for recognition and pay.
Unison is rallying members to march in the procession, which was first established in 1856.
It has recruited The Glasgow Drum Circle to provide music on the route.
The trade union will hand out free candy floss and are sponsoring a PACE Theatre Group production during the festival.
Jane Haining died at Auschwitz after being ripped away from pupils at a school in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944.
She travelled to teach at the Scottish Mission School in the city during the 1930s and 1940s.
Gestapo officers sent her to the death camp after she was found to be protecting children from her class.
Jane was born in Dunscore, near Dumfries, in 1897, but worked in the JP Coats thread factory in Paisley for 10 years.
Unison and relatives of the teacher visited Auschwitz to lay a wreath in her memory earlier this year.
Sma’ Shot Day is the centrepiece of expanded celebrations across Paisley this weekend.
The Weave Festival will feature design, textile, craft workshops, demonstrations, music, food, poetry, dancing and talks.
The climax of the workers’ march will see a giant effigy of a mill owner – dubbed the ‘Cork’ – burned.
A Doon The Watter theme will see the town transformed into a seaside escape with ice cream and even a sandy beach.
The Sma’ Shot Day parade takes place on Saturday and will leave Brodie Park at noon.
For more information, including the full line- up and timetables for the day, visit www. paisley.is