IT WAS backed by Billy Connolly and John Lennon, and helped make Jimmy Reid a household name.

The Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) Work-in of 1971 and 1972 thwarted plans by the then Conservative government to shut down yards and make thousands unemployed.

Next weekend (March 12), a special event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic campaign will be held in Dalmuir.

Glasgow Times: Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson chats to UCS leader Jimmy Reid during the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in in Glasgow August 1971.

Making A History - A Day-school celebrating the USC Work-In, 1971-72 is taking place at Golden Friendships Community Hall. It will delve into what happened and why it matters, with input from keynote speakers and activists.

It will also include a discussion with playwright Neil Gore and director Louise Townsend, who turned the story into a musical, called UCS: Yes, Yes, Yes.

Glasgow Times: At a UCS demonstration at Glasgow Green, banners catch the eye as loudhailers carry the speakers' words to the assembled throng in June, 1971.

The UCS was formed in 1968 from a merger of shipbuilders in Govan, Linthouse, Scotstoun and Clydebank.

More than 6000 of the 8500 jobs at the yards were put at risk when the UCS went into receivership three years later. Then prime minister Edward Heath’s government refused to provide any support.

Backed by comedy legend Connolly, who worked there before he became a musician and comedian, the work-in was staged to show workers wanted to work – and they could manage and operate the yards until the government changed its policy.

Glasgow Times: Jimmy Reid leads the marchers. 1971

Rather than withdrawing their labour, they continued working to prove the viability of shipbuilding on the upper Clyde – and ended up being more productive than the yards had been under private ownership.

The workforce rejected a compromise offered by Heath’s government, which would see just two of the four yards stay open.

By fighting on, they secured the continued operation of all of the yards and Reid was elected rector of Glasgow University during the dispute.

Glasgow Times: Billy Connolly (top right) at the demo.

Addressing the workers, Reid said: “We are not going to strike. We are not even having a sit-in strike. Nobody and nothing will come in, and nothing will go out, without our permission.

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“And there will be no hooliganism, there will be no vandalism, there will be no bevvying, because the world is watching us, and it is our responsibility to conduct ourselves with responsibility, and with dignity, and with maturity.”

The work-in at Govan attracted support from around the globe. Workers from across five continents sent donations and messages of support with John Lennon and Yoko Ono sending a cheque for £1000 to support the workers as well as a bouquet of 100 red roses.

When it was announced at a shop stewards’ committee meeting that Lennon had made a substantial donation to the cause, one of the union reps responded: “Don’t be daft, Lenin’s been dead for years.”

The musical – Yes! Yes! UCS! – is based on interviews with shipyard workers involved in the campaign to save their company and focuses on the little-known role played by the women who made up five per cent of the workforce in the yards.

Our archive photographs tell the story - Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson chatting to UCS leader Jimmy Reid in August 1971; an estimated 40,000 people taking part in the march through the city centre, during which the union leaders predicted that the “message of Glasgow Green would echo throughout Britain - and Downing Street’s Cabinet Room”; at a UCS demonstration at Glasgow Green, banners catch the eye as loudhailers carry the speakers’ words to the assembled throng; and Jimmy Reid, and Tony Benn marching in George Square and down Union Street. Finally, you can just see Billy Connolly in the crowd (top right) at the Glasgow Green demo.