A SPECIAL public meeting will be held next week ahead of the 50th anniversary of the famous Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) work-in.

Clydebank’s Trades Union Council has organised the online gathering to commemorate the “remarkable working class victory” and debate the lessons it offers for today’s labour movement.

Speakers will include Mary Senior, president of the Scottish TUC, Clydebank resident, David Torrace, who was staff-side chair of the Fairfield Yard in Govan, and Professor John Foster, co-author of the book “The Politics of the UCS Work-In”.

The 1971-72 work-in stopped the government from closing the four Clyde yards they ultimately owned, including John Brown’s. They fought for the “right to work” and forced a U-turn in government policy at the time.

Tam Morrison, secretary of the Clydebank TUC, told the Post: “The political consciousness of leading shop stewards, allowed them to see the contradictions of the capitalist system.

“They put the strategy of a popular front into action which in the yards overcame the narrow sectionalism and religious sectarianism which existed, building the unity and collectivists values of the workforce.

“But crucially they built support for the work-in far beyond the trade union movement and working class communities.

“The professional classes, self-employed, clergy, small and even medium businesses backed the workers as they saw their interests tied up with their aims.

“The stewards and the workforce, beat off attempts by the right wing in the trade union movement to take control, and forced the government, the ultimate employer, into a U-turn and keeping the four yards open.”

The online meeting starts at 7pm on March 10 and you can register on Eventbrite by searching for “UCS work-in”.