In memorian ,
Betty Tebbs
1918 - 2017
Betty Tebbs died peacefully at her home in Lancashire with her family around her on January 23 , 2017 - she was 98 years of age .
Betty was a great speaker at our Women ’ s Conference in 2015 , with her fearless spirit still evident . She told us how the joy of receiving her first wage packet ( in 1932 at the age of 14 ) disappeared when she learned that young male colleagues doing exactly the same job as her were being paid two shillings a week more . She joined the union immediately . After negotiations with management , the women ’ s wages were increased and Betty began her lifelong journey as a trade union activist . “ I made it clear I weren ’ t happy and someone got me a union form ” said Betty , adding “ by the time I left 18 years later , we were the best paid paper mill women in the country .”
Delegates listened to Betty ’ s stories about the struggles she took part in through tough times . With such warm humour , she shared the solidarity she ’ d experienced by taking part in mass movements , improving working conditions along the way . Betty worked hard for the union and through strikes and comradeship , harsh new working conditions brought in on the back of time and motion studies were overturned , and sacked workers reinstated at the big East Lancs paper mill in Bury .
She addressed appalling health and safety and working practices at a bag factory in Warrington over three years , and replaced management agendas for meetings with agendas from workers many times .
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