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Workers celebrating the end of the strike
© Ned Newitt
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The Bedaux strike |
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In 1920, the Wolsey firm was formed by the merging of two established and respected hosiery outfits: Robert Walker and Sons and W. Tyler and Company. The Wolsey brand has developed into one of the UK’s most famous producers of socks and ladies’ knitwear. In the 1930s, the company found itself embroiled in an industrial dispute that saw one of its largest factories on strike for seven weeks. The employers of the Wolsey factory in Leicester were triumphant in their battle against the firm’s attempts to impose the unpopular, and in their eyes unfair, Bedaux system of productivity timing.
The following account features oral testimony compiled by the East Midlands Oral History Archive from people involved in the Bedaux strike. Millicent Hillebrand and Hilda Marlow were both employed on the factory floor during the dispute, both talk about their experiences while on strike. Malcolm Skillington was employed on the management side of things during the strike, whilst William Lomax was employed soon after the strike.
The cause of the strike was the introduction of a system designed to maximise productivity: the Bedaux System. The system was devised in America. In 1931, it was decided to introduce the system to the Wolsey factory in Leicester.
The Bedaux system worked by first timing employees in the factory and then calculating the average rate of work based on how many garments were completed in an hour. Any work produced in excess of that number earned the workers a bonus.
Listen as Malcolm Skillington describes how the Bedaux system was introduced to the Wolsey factory.
According to Millicent Hillebrand, the problems arose when the public school boys employed by the factory to time the workers chose to measure the younger workers, resulting in a very high rate of work.
“Now these boys, they didn’t go for the general run of machine operators, they went for the young girls, you see, and more or less chatted them up”
Listen to Millicent’s description of how the system was established.
Therefore, the bonuses some of the workers received were laughably meagre. Millicent remembers one bonus of ½ p “I would say it cost more than that to produce the envelope.”
The reaction of the workers and Hosiery Union was to call a strike. Almost all of the 3000 workers in the factory participated and were supported throughout the seven weeks by the Hosiery Union.
Listen to how Millicent found the atmosphere in the factory in the build-up to the strike.
Listen to Millicent Hillebrand’s description of life on the picket line.
Wolsey employee Hilda Marlow remembers how ‘blacklegs’ (workers who did not take part in the strike) were treated differently for years after everyone returned to work. Listen to Hilda’s experiences.
After seven weeks on strike, the union and factory reached an agreement and workers received a letter inviting them back to work. The workers were re-timed and life began to return to normal. Listen to Millicent’s memories of returning to work.
Employee Willie Lomax was employed by the factory soon after the strike, he remembers starting work in the aftermath of the dispute, listen to his recollections. He also believes that the Bedaux system brought benefits to the factory floor, listen to his memories.
Click here to enter the Wolsey picture gallery
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