Women Ford Machinists Strike (1968)

Fri Jun 07, 1968

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Image: A group of women Ford employees with a large banner that reads “FORD MACHINISTS SAY WE WANT RECOGNITION FOR OUR SKILL” [workersliberty.org]

On this day in 1968, all 187 women employees working at a Ford factory in Dagenham, East London went on strike to demand equal pay for equal work, eventually leading to the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

At the factory, female workers were classified as unskilled workers (Category B), paid both less than “skilled” (Category C) workers and Category B male workers. Even teenage boys sweeping the floors were paid more than the women working there.

In response to this, all 187 women went on strike on June 7th, demanding equal pay for equal work. Despite their labor being classified as unskilled, car production halted within a week. The factory was forced to come to a complete standstill, eventually costing the company over $8 million. Despite this, Ford refused to negotiate.

The strike ended after Barbara Castle, the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, intervened, beginning a set of negotiations at which men were not allowed. The strike ended with an immediate increase of their rate of pay to 8% below that of men, rising to the full Category B rate the following year. In 1984, following an additional strike, the women were categorized as Category C.

The labor action is considered key to the passing of the Equal Pay Act 1970 prohibited inequality of treatment between men and women in Britain in terms of pay and conditions of employment. In 1978, despite its passage, women’s relative position in the UK was still worse than in Italy, France, Germany, or the Benelux countries in 1972.