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The women who forged the way for equal pay

Female sewing machinists on strike are interviewed at the Ford factory in Dagenham.
Nicola Kenny
BBC Archive

“We intend to make equal pay for equal work a reality.”

In December 1975, The Equal Pay Act (1970) came into force in the UK. Seven years earlier, a determined group of women laid the foundations for this landmark moment.

In 1968, at the Ford factory in Dagenham, 187 female sewing machinists went on strike. They refused to work because they were being paid 15% less than their male colleagues, despite carrying out the same tasks.

In addition to this, they wanted to be recognised as skilled labourers after ing a test to the factory. They were graded as 'B' workers but felt they should be 'C' graded.

Worker's are interviewed on the strike action

The strike brought the factory to a halt, as no one else knew how to make leather seat covers for cars. Some male employees who were affected by the action, blamed the female machinists, remarking that they were only earning ‘pin money’. This claim was rejected by the women who insisted that their wages were needed for essential living expenses.

The strike led to publicity and would result in equal pay legislation being introduced two years later.

Striking female machinists from the Ford plant in Dagenham attend a women's conference on equal rights in industry at Friends House, Euston, 28th June 1968.Getty Images

Striking female machinists attend a women's conference, 1968

The Labour Employment Minister Barbara Castle, a er of the female factory workers in Dagenham, helped them to negotiate a settlement. She also promised to deliver legislation, stating that she wanted "to make equal pay for equal work a reality".

In 1970, Castle introduced the Equal Pay Bill to the House of Commons.

Barbara Castle (right), Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity, shares a cup of tea with the leaders of the female machinists strike from the Ford plant in Dagenham, at the Ministry, 28th June 1968.Getty Images

Barbara Castle (right) shares a cup of tea with leaders of the female machinists strike, 1968

The Bill received Royal Assent on 29 May. This was a major moment in the fight for equal pay and it led to the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1975.

BBC News reported as the law came into force alongside the Sex Discrimination Act.

BBC News reports as the Equal Pay Act (1970) comes into force

The Equal Pay Act was the first piece of UK legislation which honoured the right to pay equality between women and men. It was also the last piece of legislation written into the statute book before Labour's defeat at the 1970 election.

However, another nine years would before 1984, when the Ford Dagenham women would receive equal pay and earn the same grade as their male colleagues.

Ultimately, the Act didn’t fully resolve issues of equal pay. However it was a significant milestone along the lengthy road to equal treatment of men and women which continues today.

International Equal Pay Day is celebrated on 18 September.

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