During the war, men at the London public transport system received a wartime bonus to help cope with the increased cost of living.  The women workers did not receive this bonus.

In August 1918, at the Willesden bus garage, women went on strike to protest about this unequal treatment, and within a week the strike had spread to several other transport garages and depots.

It is believed that some 1,800 women took part.  As well as the 5 shillings a week bonus, their demands also escalated to include equal pay.

The strike was settled by the end of the month, and although the women won the bonus they did not win on equal pay. 

It took another 52 years for equal pay legislation to come into force, after the women workers at the Ford Motor Company plant, Dagenham went on strike.

Nearly 200 female workers walked out during the summer of 1968, in protest of their unequal treatment. These women were sewing machinists who made seat covers for Ford cars, and were considered to be unskilled workers, whilst men who did the same level of work were graded as semi-skilled.

Moving to more recent times, in 2015, Some 5,000 women workers at the large tea estate, Kannan Devan Hills Plantation, India, staged a nine day strike/sit-in, demanding increased wages and bonuses.

They brought operations on the tea-estate to a halt. This strike was led and organised by the women workers who refused to allow men into it, stating that it was the women who did the actual work of plucking and carrying the heavy loads of leaves.

Consequently, it was the women that suffered from the occupational hazards, such as pesticide inhalation and knee damage. Eventually the government intervened, and their demands were met.

This strike is also famous for the formation for the all-women union Pembilai Orumai (Women’s Unity).

I couldn’t write a piece about striking women without mentioning the successful Glasgow Women’s strike in October 2018. 

This strike involved more than 8,000 women, many GMB members, employed in homecare, schools and nurseries, cleaning, and catering services across the city.  It is believed to be the biggest ever equal pay strike in the UK.