Women from Ten Channel 4, Sept 30 ; directed bv Anne-Marie Sweeney.
Reviewed by Marian Brain THIS REMARKABLE programme begins with an image of the desolate environment that working women and men endure.
But there is nothing desolate and no despair from the women who are the main focus of this programme - women who are prepared to give all their energy and commitment to the struggle for union recognition and the right to be treated as human beings.
This programme highlighted what it is like to work in the sweatshops of the West Midlands and showed what life would be like if the Tories continue making Britain a cheap labour economy.
These women have taken one of the most dramatic and bold initiatives since the Grunwick dispute in 1976; their struggle illustrates the need to organise those millions in trade unions.
The strike was in progress for over a year and demonstrated the practical problems faced in organising a workforce made up of predominantly immigrant, women workers.
These workers know the reality of Thatcher's, now Major's Britain. Their basic claim was for decent working conditions, an end to compulsory overtime, a safe environment and proper protective clothing and equal pay for the women who were paid between £20 and £30 less than the men.
On these issues they have not budged. They are also demanding that the sacked strikers be reinstated.
While the strikers themselves have mobilised a not insignificant amount of support, their union the GMB was found wanting. In fact GMB officials undermined the strikers and failed miserably to maximise support.
The programme makes clear that GMB officials attempted to block solidarity days called by the strikers, in conjunction with the support groups established in different parts of the country.
One of the most revealing scenes is a meeting with GMB official Joe Quigley, who arrogantly threatens to throw strikers out of the union if they don't dissociate themselves from the support committee.
This programme should be used throughout the black community, the women's movement and the labour B movement as a part of the campaign to get the GMB to reinstate the dispute. It gives a clear illustration of the necessity for the working class to turn back to its historical traditions of solidarity to win disputes. It ends up repeating the key lesson of the dispute in life only solidarity brings victory.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 50, October 9 1993, Page 11
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