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Big screen treatment for strike that led to Equal Pay Act

31 August 2010

The strike which paved the way for the Equal Pay Act is getting the silver screen treatment in new film, Made In Dagenham, 40 years after the act became law.

Cast hope to inspire others in equality fight

The cast of the film, directed by Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) which tells the story of the 850 women sewing machinists who went on strike at the Ford car plant in Dagenham in June 1968 after discovering they were paid 15 per cent less than men doing the same work in much worse conditions, hope it will inspire more people to campaign around equal pay.

The heroine, Rita O’Grady, who is a fictional 'cross-section' representing some of the strike leaders is played by Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), supported by a strong cast, including Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, John Sessions, Geraldine James, Kenneth Cranham and Jaime Winstone.

Hoskins, who plays union rep Albert, said the right to equal pay was just and right: “In 1968, I remember reading a little article in the back of a newspaper about women going on strike for equal pay. And I remember thinking, ‘Why isn’t this headline news’? Of course they should be getting equal pay. That story stayed with me, and then this script came up and I was all for it.”

Winstone said she was proud to be part of a film that tells such an important story: “These women worked so hard and cared for their families. They must have been exhausted, and yet they carried on with this fight. It’s inspiring. They didn’t know the extent of what they were doing at the time. You look back know and it’s revolutionary, but they couldn’t have known at the time. They were a force of nature. Of course, equal pay is still an issue, and we’re not there yet. But this is where it all started.”

Actor Sally Hawkins: “Equality is very much still a fight we’re fighting.”

Hawkins said the women of Dagenham showed it is important to fight for what you believe is right.

She said: “Equality is very much still a fight we’re fighting. In the film industry – again – it’s men calling the shots and it always has been. It frustrates me enormously. The message of the film is to keep pushing yourself, and keep challenging yourself. We all have that ability to find that voice inside us.”

Made In Dagenham is in cinemas from October 1.

Theatre company celebrates 40th anniversary of Equal Pay Act

Another dramatic production to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the act is a play commissioned by the TUC and put on by a narrowboat-based theatre company.

Striking the Balance (Fighting All the Way for Equal Pay) by Mikron theatre company, which records many of the momentous battles women have fought for equal pay from the 1960s right through to the present day, has toured the waterways of England from May until early September, including a performance at TUC Congress House.

The play celebrates successes from sewing machinists in Dagenham to dinner ladies in Yorkshire and highlights the struggle many women still face.

With women today earning 12 per cent less than men, the play is a poignant reminder that the battle for equal pay is far from over.

Organising around equal pay

In civil service and government employment the pay gap between men and women is even higher.

In the Department for Transport for example, women executive officers in the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) are paid 16 per cent less than male equivalents working for the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).

PCS is challenging this pay inequality but there are many more examples from other areas of the civil service and the public sector.

We are tackling the problem in a number of ways, through:

 

  • Collective bargaining and negotiations,
  • Taking forward hundreds of legal cases on equal pay issues, and
  • Campaigning activity.