29 April 1982: Supreme Quilting strike

29 April 1982: Supreme Quilting strike

From On This Day in Working Class History by Working Class History

April 29, 2026 · 1 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the Supreme Quilting strike by South Asian women machinists on 29 April 1982.

On this day, 29 April 1982, 300 mainly South Asian women machinists were on strike in protest at the sacking of two male union activists and over low wages at the Supreme Quilting clothing factory in Smethwick, West Midlands. After a prolonged dispute, during which they also picketed the plant of a sister company, Raindi Textiles, 24-hours a day, they went back to work after achieving promises of union recognition, although the two men remained sacked. More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/10071/supreme-quilting-strike Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon . If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory . See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/today Browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/date Check out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.com Check out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here…

People in this episode

Host: Working Class History

Topics covered

  • labor rights
  • women's history
  • strikes
  • union activism
  • South Asian workers

Keywords

  • Supreme Quilting
  • strike
  • South Asian women
  • union recognition
  • labor dispute

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Supreme Quilting, Raindi Textiles

Places: Smethwick, West Midlands

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