Recorded Memories

Maureen Smart Interviews. 1997 & 1998.

'Forty-six years working at Flude Hosiery from the mid 1940s.

Continually adapting to change and working as a factory union rep:’

'They’ll never cut out fully fashioned seaming, there’ll always be fully fashioned stockings – foolish!’

‘We’d thrash things out, I’ll never give in…it had to suit me…

we’d come to some amicable agreement…with no animosity on both sides…’

Men seen as the ‘breadwinners’ in the early days and deserved to earn more.

             Maureen felt that single women and widows needed to earn decent wages – they had the same bills to pay. As far as union work was concerned – Maureen liked to ‘thrash’ things out, they did have strikes at Fludes but Maureen much preferred negotiation and where possible always came to an amicable decision between management, union and shop floor workers. On one occasion Maureen received a bouquet from her fellow workers for all the hard negotiations that had taken place. She mentions Jack Matlock and also Helen McGrath who had started her working life as a shop floor operative but had achieved the position of General Secretary. A year before she retired she encouraged others to take over her role in negotiation. When she was young there were no other opportunities, you left school at 14 and you ‘were ruled by your parents’. She feels the factory atmosphere has changed a lot over the years – years ago far more friendliness and camaraderie. Although she does stress that factory conditions have improved greatly over the years – one incident she remembers was a small fire being ignited because of all the dust, everyone just carried on working, and a mechanic came and put it out. The factory continued out of work – bus loads came from Nuneaton and other places – ‘you all stuck together’. It’s a different world – Maureen thinks the hardships of years ago brought people together – it was extremely noisy in the factory and she learned to lip read – you got to know about people’s problems. She wouldn’t recommend the hosiery industry to anyone now. Young people have so many other opportunities. In the latter years before retiring she found her working life very stressful – ‘you were governed by the clock’.