EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES:1936-1946

David   

The main employment available in Shotts was with the Shorts Iron Company, based on iron and coalmining. Coal production required skills which were never fully acknowledged, but on which men’s lives depended. In addition to miners, engineers and electricians were needed to install machinery, blacksmiths to forge picks and shoe ponies, etc and surveyors to determine the areas and direction of coal extraction.

There were further opportunities at the Iron Works. Being above ground, jobs there were in greater demand. A fairly large work force was needed to produce iron, most of whom were adult experienced men. However, there were a few opportunities for school leavers, and obtaining an apprenticeship was considered no mean achievement. The variety of trade apprenticeships included moulding, pattern-making, mechanical and electrical engineering, blacksmiths, joiners, wagon-builders, plumbers and bricklayers. There were ancillary workers attached to these jobs, mainly as labouring or hammer-men.

Further employment was available at the slag crushers and brickworks near the Voe Reservoir. the brickwork and the Iron Works were the only industrial places employing women on manual work. Woe betide any young apprentice or new start who fell foul of these women, a most embarrassing experience for anyone to suffer.

Other employment was with the Co-operative, in various stores or bakery, and one could say they were the second largest employer in the town. There were smaller bakeries like F & F Andrew, John Brown’s Shotts Store, James Brown (baker), Bell’s bakery and various small butchers and grocery shops. Generally, local opportunities for young people were increasing as the employment situation started to improve in 1936. In 1939 many signed up for the Armed Forces.

Cathie     

On leaving school at 14 years of age in 1944, 1 left on Friday and started work on Monday. Because of the clothing coupon shortage I wore a coat made from a grey army blanket which had been made up by a local dressmaker. I remember being taken back to her when I outgrew it, and it was lengthened at the hem and sleeves with an old black astrakhan coat that once was Gran’s. She was a great believer in make do and mend.

AND AFTER 1945    

Following two world wars society had to adapt to change. Fewer women went to work as domestic servants as most of their mothers had done before them. The bulk of school leavers had completed their academic education by the age of fourteen. there was an abundance of unskilled jobs for women, though they were no longer employed at the pit-head. In the main, young girls were employed as assistants in local shops, of which there was a wide variety:- Grocers, bakers, hardware, fruit, butchers, chemists and sweet shops. The local brickwork still employed women.

For women, bus conducting was a well paid job, but it did not have a pension. Some girls worked in 1-lartwood as domestics or pupil nurses and some went away to hotel work, for example, to Edinburgh and the seaside towns on East and West coasts. I however, this work was mainly seasonal. Others traveled to nearby towns and cities to work in offices, as juniors, receptionists, trainees, etc. Girls could not enter probationer nursing until they were aged 17% years. The choice of employment for boys was wider with access to a trade via an apprenticeship. Wages were low and the period of training was usually five years before being time-served and qualified as tradesmen. Shotts Iron Works provided training for a wide range of trades:- Mechanical and electrical engineers, pattern makers, plasterers, plate-layers, slathers, etc. The Company also employed and trained people in laboratory and clerical work. Some trades were available in mining e.g. electricians, engineers, hutch menders, bricklayers and one painter.

There were some jobs for school leavers as surface workers or junior clerks. Local businesses trained joiners, plumbers and electricians; for the retail trade, bakers, butchers, etc. 1he local council, who provided most of the rented accommodation, employed men and boys in every trade.

All school leavers could take advantage of further education by attending night school in order to gain qualifications to improve their lot. Many did. E.g. David Maguire who was a baker to trade in L)ykehead Co-operative became a lecturer of mining, in the School of Engineering, Burnbank and wrote the ‘Mine Deputies Handbook.’

THROUGH TO THE 1950s    

Jim   

The school leaving age was raised to 15 in 1947. Generally, in those post-war years, there was a wide range of work opportunities for school leavers. One important source of employment, mainly for girls, was with the Wren’s Nest Weaving company    an English firm from Glossop in Derbyshire, which made cotton material. I can recall hearing a session of the wartime radio programme Worker’s Playtime - which was still running - being broadcast from Wren’s Nest. 

Performing that day were the Scotch entertainers, Robert Wilson and Jack Radcliffe. The modern factory occupied by Wren’s Nest Weaving Company was built by the Scottish industrial Estates during the post war period in order to attract new industry to the Shotts area. However, the company closed down in 1955. Industrial Development Agencies, from the Scottish Office to the voluntary Shotts Development Society, were successful in bringing the American Cummins Engine Company to Shotts. they took over the factory and began manufacturing diesel engines in November 1956 .

There were numerous sources of employment in Shorts at that time for young people Shotts Iron Company provided a range of apprenticeships for boys. There was also Lindsay’s foundry, which was sited behind the railway station on the Glasgow side. A small complex, hut equally important mainly for girls, was the Shorts Steam Laundry in hall Road. Until washing machines became common-place, the laundry served an important function in the local area.  
At that time, there were six bakeries operating in Shotts :- James Brown; John Brown (Shotts Stores); F & F Andrew; the Co-operative; David Bell and Alex Rae. All six offered steady employment to a mixed age group, both male and female.  
Outwith Shotts itself, there were many opportunities for young people seeking employment. At the neighbouring industrial estate of Newhouse, well known companies such as Viyella, Honeywell, Miller Cycles and many more, employed mainly female labour from the town. Post-war and during the I 950s, most of the workers relied on public transport; and in the case of Newhouse, employees traveled on Greenshield’s Buses, a bus company from Salshurgh. Smith’s Clock-works in Wishaw, another nationally known company, provided opportunities for stable employment, mainly for females, again with ample public transport facilities.  
Overall, during the post-war period, there were plenty of work opportunities In Shorts for school heavers - approximately 100 boys and 100 girls per year.

POST - WAR WORKING CONDITIONS

Jim   
 

Although working conditions had improved during the war years, there was still a lot to improve on in peace time. The standard working ~week was 44 - 48 hours. In almost all workplaces this meant that working on a Saturday morning was part of the normal working week.

The miners were first to achieve the five-day week in 1952. Only gradually, over the years did the rest of trade and industry follow suit, but with stiff resistance from many employers. This major reform was brought about mainly through the organised strength of the trade unions. With the five-day week, families could enjoy a more complete social life at the weekends, and it was certainly one of the major improvements in workers’ conditions. This was no more evident than in the Shotts mining community. Another important improvement for the miners was that following Nationalisation, pithead baths were installed and the miners were given a subsidised supply of drying towels. Gradually, as canteen & facilities were introduced to the mines and large factories, the consumption of bread and the traditional pit-piece’ declined. At work it was now ‘Steak-pie’ as opposed to ‘Strawberry Jam.’

Important advantages were gained by the strengthening of the Factories Acts implemented after the war. The legislation, monitored more effectively by the increase in the number of official inspectors, gave workers better safety protection in the workplace, particularly young workers. Added to that, there was the desire, supported by management, to set up social and recreational facilities at work.

I can recall, in the early 1950s going to a few dances organised by the Wren’s Nest Mill where my young sister, May worked. On another occasion, I remember going on a cruise to Rothesay which had been organised by the Viyella clothing factory at Newhouse.

Looking back to that post-war period as I remember it, with radical improvements including the introduction of the National Health Service and Welfare State, it was a time for optimism and hope.