1. The Trade Unions

2. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/ford-workers-strike-dagenham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt50ZThVzw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7d44LZZ9tI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ509hHkHO8

3. Made In Dagenham- the film In 1968, the Ford auto factory in Dagenham was one of the largest single private employers in the United Kingdom. In addition to the thousands of male employees, there are also 187 underpaid women machinists who primarily assemble the car seat upholstery in poor working conditions. Dissatisfied, the women, represented by the shop steward and Rita O'Grady, work with union rep Albert Passingham for a better deal. However, Rita learns that there is a larger issue in this dispute considering that women are paid an appalling fraction of the men's wages for the same work across the board on the sole basis of their sex. Refusing to tolerate this inequality any longer, O'Grady leads a strike by her fellow machinists for equal pay for equal work. What follows would test the patience of all involved in a grinding labour and political struggle that ultimately would advance the cause of women's rights around the world.

4. The Tolpuddle Martyrs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLyEoYmTaEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLyEoYmTaE In the 1830s life in villages like Tolpuddle was hard and getting worse. Farm workers could not bear yet more cuts to their pay. Some fought back by smashing the new threshing machines but this brought harsh punishments. In 1834, farm workers in west Dorset formed a trade union. Unions were lawful and growing fast but six leaders of the union were arrested and sentenced to seven years’ transportation for taking an oath of secrecy. A massive protest swept across the country. Thousands of people marched through London and many more organised petitions and protest meetings to demand their freedom. The protest campaign proved successful and the Tolpuddle Martyrs returned home in triumph. The Tolpuddle story is about how ordinary working people combined together to defend their families. The idea of solidarity as a basic human right is now an international demand.

5. The campaign to win free pardons and safe passage home for the Tolpuddle Martyrs was successful. The victory confirmed the right of working people to organise themselves into trade unions as part of a free society. But much more was needed for workers to have a say over their lives. The Chartist campaign did not win the democratic reforms it called for and it was many years before working men and women had the right to vote. Trade unions grew but not without many more struggles and sacrifices. The Grand Consolidated Union that the Tolpuddle farm workers had joined collapsed and it took several attempts before a sustainable union for agricultural workers was established. Farms workers who joined the union were sometimes sacked and evicted from their homes

6. Questions: pages 60-61 What are the rights and responsibilities of employers? What are the rights and responsibilities of employees? What is a code of conduct? How is Health and Safety essential in the workplace?

7. The Morecombe Bay Disaster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foOqptJG-nk http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4582470.stm Death in a cold, strange land. Three people have been convicted in connection with the deaths of 21 cocklers in Morecambe Bay in February 2004. The trial uncovered a complex web of illegal immigration, gangmasters and unscrupulous businessmen.