Magee, Eileen
2011 "Magee, Eileen", 2013, HistoryTalk Having briefly worked in a lingerie factory (Beltex) in her native Belfast upon leaving school, Eileen left home in 1963 to begin her working life in London. Eileen spent her working life in office work, predominantly in accounts and bookkeeping. Ov...
| Institution: | TUC - Trade Union Congress Library |
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| Language: | English |
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London
2013
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/B88B219F-B035-4D0C-B4BD-0874604D6745 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/0D676954-B96A-4F60-8C33-7655E6B17643 |
| Summary: | 2011
"Magee, Eileen", 2013, HistoryTalk
Having briefly worked in a lingerie factory (Beltex) in her native Belfast upon leaving school, Eileen left home in 1963 to begin her working life in London.
Eileen spent her working life in office work, predominantly in accounts and bookkeeping. Over the 40-plus years of her employment span, Eileen experienced the transition from offices using manual equipment to the computerised offices of today. Eileen also recalls the implementation of Equal Pay Legislation in the early 70s, having previously been paid half the wage of a man for doing the same job. She recalls how the men still dressed very formally there in the mid-60s: in bowler hats and pin-striped suits. The women would wear twin sets and pearls. By contrast, Eileen would later find herself work at the epicentre of Swinging Sixties London, working in the fashion industry before working for a firm that manufactured washing machines for launderettes. Later, Eileen took a local job in Acton, a company which specialised in import and export. Then, having had her first child, Eileen worked from home for a period, doing bookkeeping work.When Eileen re-entered the workplace in the 1980s, she worked for a company specialised in the grooming of dogs. She remained with them for 11 years, latterly on a part-time basis, during which time she studied for a degree at West London Institute (now Brunel University). Thereafter, Eileen attained a part-time position with the Democratic Left, based in Islington. She was trained in computer skills there. Eileen took a job for a courier company based at Heathrow Airport, then worked for Imperial College. Eileen remained there for 11 years before retiring in 2009.
Eileen belonged to the MSF and Unison unions during her working life (only two of her workplaces were union firms), and also had brief spells as an activist with Amnesty International and the Socialist Workers Party.
In her clip Eileen describes sexual harassment in the workplace and the discrepancies in pay between men and women.
Click on the pdf icon to read the entire transcript or click on the mp3 icon to hear a clip of the interview. |
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| Physical Description: | Photograph TEXT |