New Work For Women
In 1941, the war was going badly for Britain. The country desperately needed fighters to defend the skies, bombers to take the war back to Hitler and ships to replace the convoys ravaged by German U-boats. With the male workers at war, the answer was an army of women to 'man' the factories. Scottish women relished taking on the challenge of new jobs, but were not paid the man's rate for the job. We meet Bella Keyzer who trained as a welder in a Dundee shipyard, and Agnes McLean and Mary Gray, who worked at the giant Rolls Royce factory in Hillington, in Glasgow, where 10,000 worked to build aero-engines. Agnes McLean made history by leading the Rolls Royce women out on strike and winning a pay rise.
In 1941, the war was going badly for Britain. The country desperately needed fighters to defend the skies, bombers to take the war back to Hitler and ships to replace the convoys ravaged by German U-boats. With the male workers at war, the answer was an army of women to 'man' the factories. Scottish women relished taking on the challenge of new jobs, but were not paid the man's rate for the job. We meet Bella Keyzer who trained as a welder in a Dundee shipyard, and Agnes McLean and Mary Gray, who worked at the giant Rolls Royce factory in Hillington, in Glasgow, where 10,000 worked to build aero-engines. Agnes McLean made history by leading the Rolls Royce women out on strike and winning a pay rise.
