Upper Clyde Shipbuilders

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Upper Clyde Shipbuilders was a British shipbuilding company formed from several of the largest shipyards on the River Clyde in Scotland .

history

Participating shipyards

The company was founded in 1968, based on the recommendations of the Geddes Report , through the merger of the following shipyards:

insolvency

During the construction of a series of Cardiff-class ships , the company went bankrupt in 1971. The necessary for the continuation of the company's loans of about six million £ pounds were from the Tory -Regierung under Edward Heath refused, which subsequently led to a special type of strike.

Union strategy

Contrary to what everyone expected, the heads of the unions involved agreed instead of reacting in the form of a strike with a protest action called "work-in" in the language of the time and completing the ships under construction. In this way the workers hoped, on the one hand, to illustrate the shipyards' will to survive and to refute the accusation that the shipyard workers were work-shy, which was often made at the time, against the background of continuous strikes in the shipyards. The "protest by continuing to work" was organized in this way by the two shop stewards , Jimmy Reid and Jimmy Airlie, who both belonged to the Communist Party of Great Britain . Thanks to the strict organization of all shop stewards deployed on site by Reid and Airley, the protest went extremely well. To ensure that the shipyard workers made the best possible impression, Reid insisted on strict adherence to discipline. He instructed workers that there should be "no hooliganism, no vandalism and no bevvying" during the protest.

Course and effects

Reid's tactic worked and public perception in the Glasgow area and beyond was on the side of the participating shipyard workers. The campaign was supported by demonstrations in Glasgow that were attended by up to 80,000 people. At one such demonstration, Tony Benn gave a speech to the attendees, and folk singer Matt McGinn and comedian Billy Connolly , both former shipyard workers, provided the entertainment part of the event.

In February 1972 the Heath government finally gave in and let two of the shipyards, Yarrow Shipbuilders and Fairfield Shipbuilders , go back into operation. The bankrupt shipyard John Brown & Company was sold and was used to build oil drilling platforms until 2001. Two large shipyards remained in operation on the Upper Clyde, Yarrows and Govan Shipbuilders .

Some observers noted that the successful "work-in" , of all things, ended the laissez-faire attitude of the shipyard workers of that time, and thus initiated the development of a competitive attitude that would later progress under Margaret Thatcher's administration . On July 1, 1977, Yarrows and Govan was incorporated into the state-owned British Shipbuilders Corporation . In 1985 it was sold to GEC-Marconi and re-privatized under the name Marconi Marine (YSL) . BAE Systems was born when Marconi Electronic Systems was sold to British Aerospace in 1999 . Marconi Marine (YSL) became BAE Systems Marine (YSL) . From 2008, the two traditional shipyards Yarrows and Govan will be operated as part of BVT Surface Fleet , a joint venture between BAE Systems and the VT Group , formerly Vosper Thornycroft , and deal with the development and construction of naval ships.

Trivia

The campaign was financially sound and it is known from a gathering that Jimmy Reid was able to announce the receipt of a £ 5,000 donation "from Lennon", whereupon one of the participants returned "but Lenin is dead" (but Lenin's deid! ).

literature

Web links