Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Shop Stewards Committee (trade association: 1968-1972: Govan, Glasgow, Scotland)

In 1968, the Labour government pronounced that Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd was to be responsible for shipbuilding in the Glasgow area. This decision resulted mainly from the findings of the Geddes Report on British shipbuilding. The report led the UK government to force the merger of the five existing shipbuilding companies from Clydebank to Govan, into one, which was to be known as the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. The five yards merged were: John Brown & Co (Clydebank) Ltd in Clydebank; Fairfields (Glasgow) Ltd in Govan; Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd in Linthouse; Charles Connell & Co Ltd in Scotstoun; and Yarrows & Co Ltd also in Scotstoun.

The Upper Clyde Shibuilders (UCS) Yard was to set the bench mark not only for shipbuilding, but for industry as a whole in Britain. At its formation, there were nearly 14,000 people in the work-force. Yet despite having a full orderbook and a forecasted profit in 1972, UCS was controversially forced to enter into liquidation in 1971 when the government refused a £6m working capital loan. Rather than go on strike, the traditional form of industrial action, the Shop Stewards Committee organised the UCS work-in of 1971-1972 . The intention was to complete the orders that the shipyards had in place, in an effort to force the government to intervene financially to save the yards.

Given the high profile of the UCS official liquidation, the work-in received a great deal of media attention. Their action was partly successful, as in 1972 the government sanctioned the formation of Govan Shipbuilders Ltd, with Scotstoun Marine Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary. However, the existence of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd was ended.

Copies of the original tapes were acquired independently by both the Scottish Record Office (SRO), and Charles Alexander Woolfson, from James Reid. Woolfson later donated his copies to the University of Glasgow along with the transcripts that he had made. Woolfson also provided the SRO with copies of his transcripts. The transcription process was completed by Woolfson over a period of two and a half years, with help from Margaret Pitt-Watson, however two of the tapes were found to be untranscribable. Gerry Ross, a former member of the co-ordinating committee, helped to identify as many of the speakers as possible. Woolfson then went on to use the transcripts as the basis of his PhD thesis Working class culture: the work-in at Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (1982), as well as his book The politics of the UCS work-in: class alliances and the right to work (1986), which he co-authored with John Foster.

NOTE: Dates do not match with total accuracy between the tapes and the transcripts however they are in approximately correct order with a few exceptions. Tapes UGD 181/2/1-9 correspond with volume 1 of the transcripts (UGD 181/1/1); tapes UGD 181/2/10-16 correspond with volume 2 of the transcripts (UGD 181/1/2); and tapes UGD 181/2/16-25 correspond with volume 3 of the transcripts (UGD 181/1/3).

From the guide to the Records of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Shop Stewards Committee, Govan, Glasgow, Scotland, 1971-1972, (Glasgow University Archive Services)