The June 2024 design pays tribute to the female workers at Ford's Dagenham plant in England who went on strike on June 7, 1968, to demand equal pay with male workers. The women sewing car seats were classified as "unskilled" workers, while men doing the same or similar work were classified as "skilled" workers and therefore received higher pay. All 187 women went on strike, but although the thousands of men at the plant continued to work, car production came to a complete halt. At another British Ford plant, around 200 women went on strike in solidarity. Ford initially refused to negotiate. One of the workers, Eileen Pullen, later told the Guardian: "Some of the men said, 'Good for you, girl', but others said, 'Go back to work, you're only doing this for pocket money'... But our wages weren't pocket money, they were meant to support you, pay your mortgage and pay all your bills. It wasn't pocket money. No woman would go to work for pocket money, would she? Not when she's got a family." After three weeks, the strikers finally agreed to go back to work for 92% of men's pay (down from 85%) in a government-brokered deal. The strike paved the way for the Equal Pay Act 1970, which made equal pay for equal work law. At Ford's Dagenham plant, nominal pay equality was not finally achieved until a later strike in 1984.
The June 2024 design was created by Scotland-based union activist and cartoonist Jamie-Max Caldwell. It is a reference to a photo of the striking women with their "We want sex equality" banner only partially unfurled so that only "We want sex" was visible. The photo was published by a newspaper at the time to deliberately belittle and ridicule the women. However, the Ford machinists of 1968 were undeterred, stuck together and helped to improve conditions not only for themselves but for women across the country.
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T-Shirts Unisex Ford Dagenham Women's Strike