Made in Dagenham Page #2

So who's gonna

make the fourth man?

Oh, not me.

I'm not going.

Any takers? No?

You want it?

F*** off.

Come on. It's a day off.

- Oh, actually.

- Yeah, you all wanna go now.

Yeah. I ain't having that.

What?

Yeah.

Go on, Rita. Day off.

Go on, Rita.

You'd be great, Rita.

Go on, then.

Yeah, right.

What do you have to do?

All right, Gordon?

Hello, Sandra.

Think you're going?

It's the new Escort. Finally designed

something people like.

They can get f***ed.

That's right.

We ain't working no overtime.

Me and the boys were saying

we'd have gone on strike

just having to turn up

in a pig hole like this.

You know it's raining here, don't you?

Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

- See you tomorrow, Connie.

- I think he likes you.

It's going, it's going. The

police are being pushed backwards.

There's screaming now.

Absolute hysteria.

Now you can see the banners

are being used as clubs...

No, they don't want so much.

No, look what you're doing...

Sharon?

Don't open my share.

Turn the telly off now,

there's a good girl. Now, please.

Wake your dad up.

Wake up, Dad.

Right. Pull your finger out.

Help your mum.

Square eyes,

what have I told you?

Dad, Martine Clarke's got color.

I've seen it.

Martine Clarke's

got color, has she?

We'll go around her house

and watch it after tea, won't we?

Her mum'll be

pleased.

Look, we'll have color soon.

Once you can rent them.

Eddie, don't go promising color.

We haven't even paid

for the fridge yet.

And the three piece

is still on tick.

Now we've got all this unrest at work.

What unrest?

Oh, that? You had a vote, Rita.

Unrest is when you actually

come out and strike. Blimey.

No, don't look like that.

I'm only joking.

All right.

I'm proud of you.

We all are, aren't we?

Sticking to your guns. We had

a book going on the shop floor.

No one thought you'd

even take the vote so,

yeah, good on you. Well done.

Ain't just a vote now.

Got a meeting tomorrow,

all the bosses.

And I'm going.

Oh?

It's all right, I'll plate

your tea up in the morning

and then if I'm back late,

you can just heat it through.

Apparently, you go to a Berni Inn

on the way there.

That's snazzy.

Isn't it?

It'll be all right, won't it?

Yeah, of course.

We don't have to do anything.

The men will do all the talking.

No, I mean, it's not

too posh in there, is it?

I'm wearing the right stuff?

No, you'll be fine.

I'm so glad you're here.

After you, ladies.

Gentlemen.

Thank you.

- Here you are, sir.

- Lovely.

Do you ever worry about your waist?

You're joking.

That

steak. Barnaise sauce.

It's Monty. He always

insists on coming here.

As long as

the union's paying.

Rita.

Yeah.

Word of advice.

When we get there,

don't let them lure you in.

If they seem to be

asking you a question,

keep your head down.

I'll handle it.

Above all, if I nod, you nod.

Got that?

Right.

That nice, was it?

It's lovely, thank you.

I couldn't eat another thing.

Oh. Mr. Dawson. I'm sorry,

we weren't expecting you until...

It's quite all right. It's no problem.

Oh, and there's four of us.

You might need an extra chair.

Right.

Two teas.

On a previous

occasion,

in a free vote, the girls agreed

to the new grading structure.

They did not agree, however,

as to where they would end up on it.

Which is why we're sitting

round this table.

Look, I understand what the girls

are saying. I just don't...

I'd rather you didn't speak

for the girls, Mr. Hopkins.

None of us here knows

what's in their heads.

The fact remains there's a

formal grievance procedure in place

and the machinists' case

will be heard.

What we can't do

is let them jump the queue.

Peter, look,

you know me. I ain't got

no ax to grind with Ford.

- Am I right or am I right?

- You've always been fair.

Exactly. Ah,

we're all men of the world.

Let's cut to the chase, shall we?

We'll reconvene in two weeks' time.

Monty.

Listen.

We'll reconvene, we'll come back

down here again for the day

and then at that point

you can guarantee

to look into the girls' complaint.

The thing is, Monty...

That way

you can go back to your bosses

and say that the strike's off

because of how you've

handled today's negotiations.

We can go back to the girls and say

they're now your number-one priority

in a few weeks' time.

That seems very fair.

I'm not so sure

the girls'll be too happy.

The girls

will be fine.

As long as they know they're not

being fobbed off by the management.

The union's setting the terms.

That's what's important.

Bollocks.

What?

I'm sorry, Albert, but it is.

Three hours we've been sat here.

"That's what matters to the girls"?

How you qualify to talk

about that, I do not know.

Here. Have a look at this.

There.

You put them together.

Go on.

It's Ford property, I believe.

Oh, stop it.

We have to take these different pieces

and work out how they go together.

Because there ain't no template,

is there?

We have to take them and sew them

all freehand into the finished article.

The same with the door trim

and God knows what else.

That is not unskilled work,

which is how you've regarded us.

Christ, you need to take

an exam to get on our line.

Please, miss, I...

No, it's Mrs. O'Grady.

Mrs. O'Grady,

I understand your grievance...

Well, I really don't think you do.

It's not difficult, though.

We're entitled to semi-skilled

and the wages what go with it.

Bring this to the meeting...

Hang on.

And as regards to this

queue-jumping business, well,

we put this complaint in

months ago, didn't we?

It's just

you've done nothing about it.

And we all know why.

That's because women have never

been on strike before, isn't it?

You just thought you could forget it

and we'd all go away. Well, I'm sorry,

but it isn't gonna be that easy

because we're not going anywhere.

We're gonna do

what we said we would.

No more overtime and

an immediate 24-hour stoppage.

And where it goes from there,

well, it's up to you.

If you'll excuse me, I've really

got to be going. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

Thank you.

You think I like looking stupid?

I didn't know what she was gonna do.

You didn't know they were

in her handbag, pull them out?

Look at his face.

Oh, don't worry, you were great.

Thank you very much,

Albert. Thank you very much.

I knew, I knew.

It's up here, you see.

I wanted clever, Rita,

that's why I picked you.

Oh, stop it.

When you pulled out these cuttings,

oh, that was amazing.

It was. I never expected that,

that you'd come prepared.

Oh, no, he was right.

I was nicking them.

Yeah, Eddie uses them to patch

the tent up for when we go camping.

All the same. Listen, don't worry about

Monty, I'll handle him. Don't worry.

Can I have them back?

Oh, yeah.

Cheers.

What are you gonna say to them?

You tell them.

You what?

This is your fault.

All right. Hold that.

Right.

Everybody out.

I can't believe it.

It's all right.

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