Women on Red Clydeside: The Invisible Workforce Debate

Abstract

Introduction At the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, the west of Scotland was the industrial heartland of the nation, with Glasgow a key focus for the wartime industries, notably engineering, munitions production and ship building and thousands of women were drafted into the industrial labour force, in order to meet the production targets of wartime. However, despite the desperate need for female labour, women were not welcomed into heavy industry by male workers, or their trade unions, and the story of women’s wartime employment in this sector of pro duction is characterised by gender struggles over the issues of dilution, job security and wage levels. Indeed, such was the perceived threat of women’s employment in traditionally male trades that the west of Scotland, instead of being remembered as a key centre of munitions production, became infamous as a key centre of industrial unrest, out of which was born the notion of ‘Red Clydeside’.