BOLTON TRADES COUNCIL: FUND RAISING APPEAL TO HELP PRODUCE A DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE REMARKABLE BETTY TEBBS

 

BOLTON TRADES COUNCIL

FUND RAISING APPEAL TO HELP PRODUCE A DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE REMARKABLE BETTY TEBBS

An appeal to the labour movement to raise £6,000 to make a documentary film on Betty Tebbs

Following the publication in 2019 by Unite of a booklet on Betty Tebbs remarkable life, Bolton Trades Council are aiming to raise £6,000 to make a 30-minute documentary film on BETTY TEBBS – A radical working class hero.

For those unaware of Betty then read what Maxine Peake has to say:-

Betty Tebbs (1918 -2017) was a great friend and comrade.

I first met Betty when I had the honour of reading extracts from her memoir at an event at The Working Class Movement Library, Salford. We became firm friends. Her passion for social justice and her courage were immediately apparent and had not dimmed in the slightest. Betty’s story was inspirational.

At 14 she left school and started work – working 53 hours a week for 10.6d. Some fifty years later, after a lifetime of trade union and labour movement activism and peace campaigning, she spoke at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow before a 10,000 strong crowd about halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

In between she represented workers, especially women, at East Lancashire Paper Mill as they became the highest paid women in the papermaking industry, co-founded a women’s refuge in Warrington and fought tirelessly for equal pay for women, often in the face of opposition from fellow trade unionists.

In retirement, she became Chair of the National Assembly of Women and continued her work for peace across the world, meeting along the way such women as astronaut Valentina Tereshkova and Angela Davis. At 88, she did her first lock-on to block the road at Faslane nuclear submarine base in Scotland. She was arrested. When comrades became disheartened Betty always gave the same answer: “We have to carry on the struggle. It is up to us.” For Betty it was the only answer. Her story is a guiding light for all of us in that struggle.

“I was delighted when Unite published a biography by Mark Metcalf of Betty’s remarkable life.”

The production of the film would be undertaken by Francesca Platt, production manager of the Bolton based arts project The Videobox at https://www.thevideobox.tv/contact-us/ alongside writer Mark Metcalf, who has produced a number of works under the Rough Jersey logo.

The pair recently collaborated on a well-received 30-minute documentary film BREAD NOT BAYONETS – Halifax 1842 on the uprising, part of the 1842 General Strike, in the West Yorkshire town in 1842. This can be viewed at: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UxMadnIEAt

Funds for this work were donated by a number of trade union branches.

The work by Francesca and Mark will consist of additional research, on screen interviews, site visits, sourcing music, photography, editing and production. There will be a number of costs associated with the work.

There will be a public screening of the completed works and it will be available free to labour movement organisations and community groups. The work will go online and will be available to show at labour movement events.

Copies of the Unite publication on Betty Tebbs can be downloaded at: -

https://markwritecouk.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/6328-betty-tebbs-web.pdf

See also Maxine Peake and Mark speaking at the WCML about Betty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJzlvL4G1Gw

Hard copies still exist – contact Mark Metcalf on 07392 852561 or email him metcalfmc@outlook.com

Former Unite general secretary Len McCluskey also speaks very highly of Betty.

Born at the end of WWI, Betty became an activist in one of Unite’s legacy unions, the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers, which eventually became the GPMU.

During the WWII she worked as a crane driver at Mather & Platt. Her first husband was killed in action. Afterwards she became politically active in the Communist Party and a committed peace campaigner having seen the devastation caused by the atom bombs dropped on Japan. Betty later became a hard working Labour Councillor. She also worked in different jobs becoming an activist in the shop workers union, USDAW. She was a delegate to SOGAT conferences where she campaigned for equal pay and she attended many international conferences campaigning for world peace.

She was honoured for her work with SOGAT’s Gold Badge. At age 89 she was presented by Manchester City Council with the Elizabeth Gaskell Women’s Award. I was privileged to share a platform with Betty at the 2016 Labour Party Conference Even in her 90’s she was a marvellous speaker and she received a long and rousing standing ovation following her speech.

 

Draft resolution

This branch agrees to support the appeal by Bolton Trades Council towards the costs of a documentary film on Betty Tebbs. We agree to donate……………..

All donations can be sent to:-  Bolton and District United Trades Council, Account number 59020222 Sort code 089018