Heat brought on mill girls’dispute

The summer of 1955 was a particularly warm one in Paisley, and it brought to a head a dispute at Ferguslie Mills.

It was all about how many‘sides’ the girls should tend in the spinning mill frame section.

The girls claimed that the warm weather added to the difficulties of their work, and 200 of them staged a walk-out.

It was then revealed that the production ‘bottleneck’would cause management to lay off other workers, whose production was affected by the walk-out.

At the time of the strike, operators were tending to seven sides, but insisted that six was more manageable.

Meanwhile, the London Tribunal sat in arbitration and suggested that six-and-a-half was their recommendation, but this was turned down by employees as it was found that it would lead to a reduction in pay of 10/5 (52p) a week.

Union officials were locked in talks with management, but were hopeful of solving the issues.