Occupy Meccano!

Historian wants to find former female employees for new digital exhibition documenting plant takeover

A DINGLE-BASED ORAL HISTORIAN is seeking to trace participants and witnesses to a little-known chapter of Merseyside’s tumultuous labour history.

Dr. Greig Campbell, who specialises in documenting rank-and- file worker responses to plant closures and mass redundancies, is investigating the four-month sit-in which took place at Airfix’s Meccano factory on Binns Road in 1979/80.

The story of the takeover of the Old Swan facility began on 30 November 1979, when local management – carrying out orders of Airfix bosses in London – handed shocked employees formal redundancy notices with only 15-minutes’ warning.

Senior members of the plant’s Joint Shop Stewards Committee were, however, fully prepared. With the backing of the entire shop-floor, they refused to vacate the so-called ‘factory of dreams’.

Over the next 14 weeks, an enterprising workforce engaged in a sophisticated process of community outreach, enlisting the support of the regional labour movement and the people of Liverpool.

This culminated in a solidarity march in Liverpool city centre that attracted thousands. The women of Meccano, meanwhile, recruited an influential political lobby to petition Whitehall Officials. The sit-in came to an end in March 1980 when police officers and bailiffs forcibly entered the Meccano factory.

© Scottie Press

A small grant from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust will enable Dr Campbell to disseminate this story to the wider community via an assortment of accessible outputs including a digital exhibition, audio documentary and educational booklet.

In order to pique the interest of younger generations, they will include a set of graphic novel style illustrations inspired by interviews with former employees and archival images donated by the Scottie Press. There will also be a public talk scheduled later in the year.

Dr. Campbell says: “Despite signalling a remarkable chapter in Liverpool’s illustrious labour history, the occupation of Airfix’s Meccano plant has been disregarded by academics who have, instead, cast their scholarly gaze towards the region’s traditional, male- dominated industries.

“Mirroring this literary marginalisation, the fight for jobs has failed to penetrate Liverpudlians’ collective memory, with subsequent generations seemingly unaware of the events of 1979 and 1980.

“The Occupy Meccano project seeks to remedy this. By celebrating the extra-ordinary actions of ordinary people facing intolerable injustices, I hope to inspire the workers of today to fight for their rights.

“To achieve this, I need interviews from witnesses of the occupation. I am specifically looking for ex-employees, trade unionists, political activists and, crucially, members of Meccano’s 650 strong female workforce.”

Dr. Campbell is seeking to trace ex-Meccano workers, community leaders, political activists and/or trade unionists. If you or anyone you know falls into this category, please contact g.campbell@wlv.ac.uk or 07585 669833

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