Made In Dagenham

My presentation focuses on the movie Made in Dagenham released 2010 by William Ivory.

In 1968, in the Ford car factory in Dagenham east of London Rita O’Gardy , a sewing machinist decided to go on strike because at Ford factory , women were paid much less than their male counterparts.

Thus, with the other strikers, they protest during three weeks and started political waves. Frustrated, the factory owners tried to pressure the women into going back to work but they refused. Rita O’Grady met with Barbara Castle, the British Employment Secretary, to discuss terms. In order to pacify the Lords and factory owners, Castle promises them to be on their side, however they have to be patient but Rita demanded concrete measures before accepting to return to work.

At the result of meeting, the Secretary seems ready to negotiate and the strikers finally got the guarantee they would now be paid 90% of what men were paid.

With this movie, we show us the Equal Pay Act of 1968 in which companies were required by law to give equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. In 1968, several laws were passed to grant more equality to women.

Actually, during the decade the women take an important place to the evolution of the society. In the time to the sexual revolution, the women up take the pill.

...