This is the release issued on Wednesday 3 Jan with an update on the next events to mark the UCS@40 celebrations. These are the Celtic Connections Concert on 5 February, and the showing of the Cinema Action films made at the time of the Work-In. It lead to an article on Lothian Health's UNISON News twittersite and a Platform piece in the Scotsman. There was also a mention on the World Music Central website.
The 40th Anniversary of Clydeside’s important Work-in has inspired more than politicians and trade unionists. The UCS struggle that started back in 1971 also attracted the attention of many musicians, filmmakers, writers and other artists. Contemporary support came from the well-publicised bunch of roses (and £5,000) from John Lennon and Yoko Ono through to concerts featuring weel-kent local acts like Jimmie Macgregor, Arthur Johnstone and of course Billy Connolly. The inspiration the Work-in provided to artists forms the next theme of the UCS@40 celebrations that continue into the New Year (the final mass meeting of the work-in was in October 1972).
As part of the Celtic Connections festival, a UCS Work-in 40th anniversary concert is scheduled for February 5. Concentrating more on the music and artistic side, it will feature a number of stars from last October’s gala concert alongside new artists, and is again being produced by Fair Pley with musical direction by Rab Noakes and Hilary Brooks. Rab said
“Last October a number of musical and theatrical performers came together to a substantial night celebrating the trade unionists who developed and sustained the work in. This year we hope to continue that by celebrating the focus that the UCS work-in contributed, and continues to contribute to the civil and social conscientiousness of musicians, poets and artists.”
The line-up for the Fruitmarket venue, is still being finalised, but it will again feature the new commission for traditional band, brass, saxophone and cello, ‘Work-in at UCS - a celebration suite’ composed by prominent Scottish composer, Eddie McGuire of the Whistlebinkies.
Eddie wrote an original piece for saxophones in 1971, that he presented to Jimmy Reid. Forty years later, this one was presented to Jimmy Cloughley of the Joint Shop Stewards at the Gala Concert. Eddie says
“The spirit of resistance and dignity demonstrated by the workers in the yards inspired me at the time to compose a piece for saxophones which I handed to Jimmy Reid in December 1971. I was really honoured, 40 years on, to be asked by those veterans of the struggle to compose for them once more. I am inspired again - this time to rekindle that spirit so needed again today. We are keeping the links strong, with Maya Burman-Roy again playing the opening cello. Maya is the cello teacher to Jimmy Reid’s granddaughter!”
Maintaining the link with the inspirations of the time, there will be appearances by Jimmie Macgregor, Arthur Johnstone and Alastair MacDonald. Actor and director, David Hayman is planned to contribute as is well-known poet Tom Leonard.
Later in the year, from the 21-23 March, the Mitchell Theatre plays host to two seminal films of the work-in, with a contribution from one of the filmmakers. During the work-in, the only film or TV crew allowed by the shop stewards to record the struggle as it happened, were the radical filmmakers, Cinema Action. Out of this access that covered press conferences, mass meetings, stewards meetings etc, two films, the short campaign film UCS1, and the longer Class Struggle: Film from the Clyde, were made. Both will be shown over a period of three days, and Ann Guedes, one of the film collective who made the film, will be available to take part in panel discussions.
Stephen Wright of FairPley said
“ We were pleased that the unique access that Cinema Action had to the Work-in is going to be available for people to see. The innovative nature of the action, meant that both the techniques and the politics were important to document. We hope we have succeeded and we’re looking forward to bringing the films to a whole new audience.”
