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WOMEN workers in Northamptonshire shoe factories were getting 'the rate for the job' regardless of their sex long before equal pay for women came into force as national legislation. The driving force behind the revolutionary pay deal was a had been a trade unionist since the age of 18. Her name was Elsie Maye Dicks.
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Elsie Maye Dicks MBE
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Maye went on to become chairman of Northamptonshire County Council, a much respected JP and grand-dame of the county's Labour Party. The word most commonly used by political friends and foes when speaking about Maye is "formidable." Today Maye is 83 years old and retired rom active politics. She has been awarded the MBE and other honours including life membership of the Labour Party.She is now able to look back on a lifetime of service and achievement with a critical eye. But the achievement of which she is most proud is the part she has played in helping to advance the cause of women." But I was never a women's libber," Maye hastens to point out. "I could never burn my bra. It would be much too big." The revolutionary pay deal, which gave women in the shoe industry equal pay with men, came during the1930s. The National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives negotiated a 'rate for the job' deal with the bosses. Up to that time women had always been paid less than men. But once the revolutionary pay deal was agreed it meant that workers doing a particular job would get the same rate of pay regardless of whether they were women or men. Maye recalls: "Ironically the only union branch to vote against the resolution was an all-female branch from Leicester." During her time as a union representative Maye was also instrumental in winning holiday pay for shoe workers. Maye's reputation as a tough negotiator brought her to the attention of Northamptonshire Labour Party activists and soon she was being touted as a possible parliamentary candidate.
But, she says: "I had seen too many marriages suffer because of the strain put on them when the husband or wife became an MP and I didn't want to put that kind of strain on my own marriage."
Maye put her role as wife and mother, to her husband William and son Robin, first. But once Robin was grown up she felt able to stand for election as a councillor with Rushden Urban Council.
She stood for election in Tory-controlled Rushden South and failed to get elected by four votes. Next time she stood as a candidate in Rushden East. This time she was elected with a comfortable majority. The year was 1967 and Maye was 49 years old. She was to represent Rushden on the Urban Council, East Northamptonshire District Council and Northamptonshire County Council for the next 34 years. She served as chairman of both the county and district councils. Before she was first elected as a councillor she became a magistrate. She explains: "I was appointed because I was a well-known trade-unionist and had no reservations about accepting.
"I would urge any ordinary working person who is considering becoming a magistrate to go for it. It is important that people from all backgrounds and all walks of life should become magistrates. The bench should be a true reflection of society."
Although she came from a trade union background Maye has never considered herself to be a left winger. "I was never on the left of the party," she explains, "I have always been able to see the other person's point of view and during my second spell as chairman of East Northamptonshire District Council the Conservatives were the ruling group." Maye has met all the Labour Party leaders since the Second World War including Prime Ministers Clem Attlee, Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan. And when she retired from office she received a letter from Tony Blair.
But her all-time favourite politician was Barbara Castle, whose death was announced on Friday. Maye says: "She was only tiny but had a great personality and was a tireless worker for women's rights." Maye was born and brought up in Raunds where Margaret Thatcher was related to the Roberts family. Maye recalls that during her childhood Margaret Thatcher fell head first into a water butt in Raunds and was fished out by people who grew up to be Labour Party activists. Maye's life has not been without tragedy.
Her husband William died prematurely and her only son Robin fell victim to cancer at an early age. But she has three grown-up grandsons - Kenneth, Michael and David - and is now a great-grandmother.
When she was awarded the MBE in the Millennium honours awards, she had it presented in Rushden instead of Buckingham Palace so her daughter-in-law Barbara and her three grandsons could attend the ceremony. And even though she is no longer a councillor or a magistrate she is still a livewire, actively involved in the life of the community in her beloved Rushden. She now lives in a retirement flat in the town's Grafton Road surrounded by memories of a life spent serving her local community. But it a life that is far from over as she continues to serve - supporting several local charities and the Rushden Pensioner's Voice as well as the town's Twinning Association.
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