Tuesday, 11 May 2021

Standing up for equal rights podcast at Unite the Union

 

 

 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/79qBbyJGFNeXUa2GhrIm8q

 

In 1971 and inspired by the 1970 Equal Pay Act, Allyson Daykin and her young workmates got organised at KP Foods and later won better terms and conditions. Victory initially though did not just mean challenging management practices!



In 1971, aware that the 1970 Equal Pay Act had been enacted after the 1968 successful Ford sewing machinists strike at Dagenham, Rotherham’s Allyson Daykin and her badly exploited, mainly female, juvenile workmates at KP Foods sought to improve their wages and conditions.



They quickly came up against resistance from the male dominated TGWU workplace branch and thus set out to organise themselves. In doing so Allyson was pushed forward and elected by her workmates to the role of shop steward, a position she fulfilled for 37 years.



This 10-minute interview starts with Allyson describing how her working-class upbringing stood her in good stead when she began work at 15.

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