BY courtesy of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party, the workers occupying Lee Jeans factory in Greenock recently treated to showing of Norma Rae.
It was a good choice of film. Norma Rae tells the story of a heroic struggle by women workers in a factory in the southern states of the USA to unionise their factory and improve their living conditions.
The massive support that the Scottish labour movement has been giving to the Lee Jeans occupation is due to the determination and courage of the mainly women strikers.
As well as women struggling for their rights, there was another aspect of the film which made it particularly suitable.
The southern textile portrayed in Norma Rae could very well have been the VF Corporations, the giant US multi-national which OWil the Lee Jeans Greenock.
Anti-union VF has an annual 700m dollars and 18,500 employees. It owns 34 factories in the United States and another 10 throughout the rest of the world.
The location of its factories in the US is significant. They are almost all situated in the states, where traditionally labour has been cheap.
Abroad, its factories are also in areas where: union organisation weak - Hong kong, Spain, Africa, the Philippines and Brazil, although also has Canada, Australia and West Europe.
the company factory turnover of VF experienced per cent to $45.9m. each share doubled.
was Dallies.
South US stock factories months!
LEEE
Some of the Lee Jeans workers an chollus growth during the 1970s. Sales tripled to $633m and profits increased by 900 The earnings for selected Even in 1980, a year in which the hurting most comVF had a record year, Last week, VF's shares were valued on the exchange at a higher value than they had held for the last twelve lory But the contraction in European LEE Y TEANS The Greenock workers are out to show the European management of VF that Norma Rae lives!
The workers have occupied the factory to prevent the movement of stock and machinery and they are demanding that the available work is shared among VF's factories in Britain and Ireland Management has refused