Together in blue jeans: Work-in women remember their famous fight for jobs
Workers hailed on anniversary of denim factory occupation
There was never a plan. When the women working at the Lee jeans factory were told they were to lose their jobs, they simply refused to leave. None would have believed they would still be there 196 days later after one of Scotland’s most remarkable industrial actions.
The news of the planned closure of the plant, 40 years ago, was met with anger not just at the loss of livelihoods but that the owners, VF Corporation, had accepted taxpayers’ money to help build the plant in Greenock they were now wanting to close.
The town had suffered thousands of job losses in the shipbuilding industry which had sustained it for decades, and so several hundred factory jobs in the clothing industry were seen as vital.
The majority, though not all, of the Lee workers were women who in many cases had become the main breadwinner for their families as their husbands found work in the area increasingly hard to find.
Having come to the conclusion that Us-owned VF’S decision to shut the factory, and move production to Northern Ireland, would not be tolerated, the first night of the sit-in, on February 5 1981, saw 240 workers bed down in the factory’s canteen with fish suppers from sympathetic local takeaways smuggled in through a skylight to provide some sustenance.
In the weeks that were to come, the sit-in became more organised, with workers splitting into an 8am to 8pm dayshift and a corresponding 12-hour nightshift.
The protest sparked headlines and nationwide interest and, during the days, some of the women travelled the length and breadth of the country, often using two-for-one rail promotion tickets which were part of a popular marketing campaign on soap powder packs at the time.
They drummed up support and spoke to workers in other industries, including miners, about the importance of solidarity and fighting for what they believed in. They went to parliament and met with senior political figures including Labour’s Tony Benn and the party’s leader Michael Foot.
And ultimately, against all the odds, in August 1981, seven months after the sit-in had begun, the campaign proved successful. A management buyout was secured saving 140 jobs and ensuring production continued for two more years before the receivers were finally called in.
The sit-in not only staved off redundancy but forged bonds between the women which last to this day. A dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of the women’s victory, hosted by Inverclyde provost Martin Brennan at Greenock Town Hall on Thursday, saw around 70 former workers gather to reminisce, while on the menu was a fish tea, in a nod to the takeaways which had sustained them on their first night of the sit-in four decades previously.
Councillor Brennan said: “The Lee Jeans sit-in is a significant chapter in our industrial past and deserves to be remembered. The workforce, which was largely female, showed spirit and determination in the face of injustice and won. Their victory is unparalleled even to this day.”