106149: Singer Sewing Machine Factory, Clydebank

Singer is an American manufacturer of sewing machines. The 11,000 workers at the factory in Clydebank went on strike in March – April 1911 ceasing to work in solidarity with twelve female colleagues protesting against work process reorganisation. This reorganisation involved an increase in workload and decrease in wages. Following the end of the strike, Singer fired 400 workers including all strike leaders, among them Arthur McManus, who later went on to become the first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain.