It is ironic that in order to connect with the richest history of Dagenham you must first leave. On journeys travelling East on the A13 I was reminded ‘Your nana used to work in that factory’ pointing to towering towers, now vapourless. Of course, my parents were talking about the, which when completed in 1931 was the largest car factory in Europe. Its sheer size was due to the large tariffs on imports during the Great Depression which encouraged Ford to include its own power plant and steel foundry, making the factory self-sufficient from imports.

At face value, of course the Dagenham Ford factory forged cars, but it also forged a history I was able to discover after visiting our local archives at Valence House. The media encouraged us to believe that a 1960s housewife was one aproned at home. In Dagenham, the apron women donned was that of a sewing machinist. In 1968, Ford re-graded its employees, categorising sewing machinists (which happened to be a female dominated role) as ‘unskilled workers’ despite the necessity of sewing for car seats. Some 187 women began a strike, in Dagenham, on the 7 June to achieve recognition for their skill. Not only did this cost Ford $8 million in export orders but also put 5,000 men out of work causing widespread unemployment in Dagenham over 3 weeks. Despite not leaving Ford a seat to sit on, it was not until the 18th June that this ‘petticoat revolt’, as described by The Sun newspaper, received support from the National Union of Vehicle Builders. It is unsurprising that the motivation of the strike was misconstrued when the union met with Ford as photos from negotiations depict an androcentric room absent of any sewing machinists. I think the saying is ‘If you want something said ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman’…

Whilst exploring our local archives I came across a plethora of sources (though all confined to a single box), including the 2010 film and subsequent West End musical ‘Made in Dagenham’, that presented conflicting motivations for the strike. What bloomed confusion was the 1968 strike’s purpose. The Observer emphasised how the strike was ‘crippling Ford’ and focused on the effect on the company, while Tabloids loosely covered the interests of the machinists. Upon receiving union support, the media collectively defined the strike as an equal pay dispute which is the sentiment the writers of ‘Made in Dagenham’ continued through the protagonist bellowing ‘We want equal pay’. However, I would like to credit the film for accurately portraying the greatest piece of publicity for the strike which was a banner written ‘We want sex equality.’ being unfolded incorrectly to show ‘We want sex.’ Accidental or not, I am sure this roused excitement from politicians onlooking behind the windows of the Houses of Parliament.

On 29th June 1968 in a meeting, described as a ‘Tea Party’ by the Daily Mail, our ‘needle and thread girls’ were able to achieve 92% of their male counterpart’s salary. Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Employment, could not however secure them grading as skilled workers. You ask but what about their initial fight for grade recognition? One striker, Sheila described how ‘what we originally came out for was swept under the carpet’. The only silver lining our machinists could cling to was knowing their role at opposing Ford Dagenham inspired the National Joint Action Campaign Committee for Women’s Equal Rights which held a 1,000-woman strong protest in Trafalgar Square in May 1969. Such increased calls for pay reform triggered the 1970 Equal Pay Act; making it illegal to pay woman in the same job less as men. Castle noted that this was six years after the Labour Party had introduced equal pay into their manifesto and was the only one out of the seven pledges about workers’ rights that had not been resolved.

The spirit of the 1968 strike led to the 1984 machinist strike, where finally they were graded as skilled workers. As the demographic of East London changed, so did the machinists who engaged in the 1984 strike with women from as far as Madras India, walking out alongside their white colleagues.  Since then, Ford Dagenham also faced a 1,000 men walkout in 1999 due to growing racism against Black and Asian workers.

Though we still receive the occasional nod from Jeremy Clarkson, Ford Dagenham certainly is not on the car manufacturing map anymore. In 2002, the assembly plant at Ford Dagenham closed and wheeled off a Ford Fiesta that I hope is still chugging around. Now, around 2,000 jobs remain building engines in contrast to the 40,000 employed in 1953. If Ford is still an ignited part of our community, why is it significant history? Some may say we must remind the future 3,500 homeowners set to live on the original factory estate of its heritage. However, I believe Ford Dagenham is a history of continued struggle and one my Nana (grandfather), a male Indian immigrant worker at Ford Dagenham would have known. In this country, we have not achieved pay, gender or race equality and Ford Dagenham remains a shell of proof that progress is possible.

Now, I have not grown up in the smoke of an industrial powerhouse, but I continue to live in the shadow of one that makes me proud to say I was ‘Made in Dagenham’. 

My passion for History emerged from watching ‘Horrible Histories’ and has progressed to studying it at A-Level. Currently, I am preparing to pursue a History and Politics degree to learn from the past to inform the solutions that we create today. Away from academia, I enjoy travelling (bonus points if it is to a historical landmark) and writing about current affairs.