Pamela Kokoszka reviews a film about a key moment in the history of women’s rights
Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film dramatises the Ford sewing machinists’ strike of 1968 in support of equal pay for women, reminding us that this basic right was not accepted until relatively recently. The film’s theme song, with lyrics by Billy Bragg, is performed by East Ender Sandie Shaw, who was once a clerk at the Ford Dagenham plant.
The film revolves around Rita O’Grady (played by Sally Hawkins) who leads a strike against sexual discrimination that led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970. The terrible conditions we are shown in the warehouses where the women sew seat covers for the cars looks like something we would associate with a sweatshop.
Rita O’Grady and her co-workers had to strip down to their underwear because of the unbearable heat in the work place; and were branded as “unskilled” – which was one of the reasons they were paid less than men.
In the film Rita is encouraged to lead the strike by her union organiser Alber Passingham (Bob Hoskins) whose principles run deeper than those of his union.
The strike makes the national news and soon draws support not only from Labour minister Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson), but also from an unlikely source in the form of Lisa Hopkins (Rosamund Pike), who is married to a top Ford executive played by Rupert Graves.
The film is an colourful, optimistic and often very funny look at a very serious event in labour history that should not be forgotten.