Interview, Eirwen Jones. Voices from the Factory Floor

Description

Eirwen left school at 17 (1969) and because she had to wait a year before going nursing she worked at the Pont Llanio Creamery. She went away to Aberystwyth to nurse – very shy and didn’t speak English. There wasn’t any running water or a bath in her home. She became manageress of the canteen at the Creamery with no experience. There was a staff of c. 80 – only 4 women in the Laboratory. Lots of fun with the men – they tried to get her to sit in their lap. Huge emphasis on cleanliness. Some of her family e.g. her father drove a lorry, worked there too. The factory closed in 1974. She earned £6 a week – good money. She got used to the men teasing her. The company gave her father a hamper of cheese, butter etc every Xmas and paid for a Xmas dinner. No rules – if you fell, ‘tough’. When she was nursing she felt at a disadvantage that her English wasn’t better. In the factory she was aware that her father would help her if the men became too forward.