GMB President Mary Turner and Ruth Smeeth MP to address 2016 TUC Women Chainmakers’ Festival

~~date Wednesday 29 June 2016
embargo: For Immediate Release

GMB President Mary Turner and Ruth Smeeth MP to address 2016 TUC Women Chainmakers’ Festival

GMB President, Mary Turner and Ruth Smeeth MP will be among the guest speakers at the 2016 Chainmakers’ Festival this weekend.

This year’s festival, to be held on Saturday July 2nd will again take place on Cradley Heath High Street. The day will be a packed family fun day of music, comedy, street theatre, speeches, stalls, children’s activities and a fun fair.
Activity will be split across two sites with activities taking place on Cradley Heath High Street with the day culminating in a 'Workers’ Picnic' in Mary Macarthur Gardens.

The Chainmakers' Festival was the first trade festival dedicated to female trade unionists and has been running for over a decade. The festival is inspired by the 1910 struggle for a minimum wage for the mostly female chainmakers of Cradley Heath which was led by Mary Macarthur.

Midlands Regional Secretary, Lee Barron, said: “We are delighted that we have leading trade unionists and politicians joining us for this year’s Women Chainmakers’ Festival. It is absolutely right that we celebrate the role of female trade unionists and to use events such as the Chainmakers’ Festival to continue to raise awareness of the challenges facing women today.

In 2015 we brought the Chainmakers’ Festival home to the heart of the dispute – Cradley Heath High Street and it proved a real hit. I am really looking forward to another fantastic street festival, right in the heart of the community again this year. There is a superb line up of entertainment so I urge people to come along and have a great day.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The programme for the festival can be found here: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Chainmakers%20Programme%20Fi…

Media enquiries:
Rob Johnston T: 0121 236 4454  E: rjohnston@tuc.org.uk
Lee Barron  T: 0121 236 4454  E: lbarron@tuc.org.uk