E67: The Grunwick strike, part 1
Working Class History
The Strike at Grumwick Film Processing Laboratories
Many employers tried to save money by hiring recent migrant workers, giving them the worst jobs and paying them much less than white colleagues. Instead of joining together with black and Asian workers to win higher pay for everyone, many white workers chose to try to defend pay differentials or promotional opportunities for themselves only. One plant which had hired large numbers of migrant workers was Grumwick Film Processing Laboratories in North West London at the time. The conditions in the factory were described by the local MP at the time as sweatshop conditions. There were things like women not being given time off to go to doctors appointments when they were pregnant. They were overlooked by their manager in a class office, overlooking their work in
