National Women’s Law Center and an Inspirational Movie

This past Monday evening, I went to a screening of the new movie, Made In Dagenham, followed by a reception hosted by the National Women’s Law Center. The film, made in England, is a true story about a major Ford Motor Company plant in Dagenham, a suburb in London, which was paying women just a small fraction of the pay for men. The management tried to justify their practice by classifying women as unskilled workers, which was not true. The fact was that they were being paid less, substantially less, because they were women!

The women of Dagenham decided enough was enough – they could not get management to treat them fairly, so they went on strike. At the plant and in Detroit, Ford management’s reaction was, “How dare they? We simply cannot pay women the same as men!” They tried unsuccessfully to bluff the women with insincere promises, which the women could see through.The story progresses from there.

This is a movie you should see. It is very well written and cast, and the acting and story are terrific.

It rang true to me, as I was working in NYC at the time in which the movie was set, in the 60s, and saw similar stances by men in management repeatedly. In fact, not only was it common, but companies and organizations which actually acted properly and treated women on merit, were rare indeed. And I do mean rare!

In thinking about the film afterwards, I felt embarrassed as a man and angered at the ignorance and arrogance of the men in Ford’s management. However, be assured I do not intend to single out Ford, as virtually every company around the world was like them in their tactics of deception and bullying.

But mainly, this is a film about leadership – women as leaders, with heart.

That evening I was privileged to speak with Nancy Duff Campbell, a.k.a Duffy Campbell, the founder and Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center. Speaking of leaders, the Center has worked tirelessly for 38 years now to expand the possibilities for women and their families. The Center uses the law in all its forms: getting new laws on the books; litigating ground-breaking lawsuits all the way to the Supreme Court; and educating the public on ways to make the law and public policies work for women and their families, and stand ready to take on the issues that cut to the core of women’s and girls’ lives in education, employment, health and reproductive rights, and family economic security, with a special priority given to the needs of low-income women and their families. (More about the Center @ www.nwlc.org)

Thanks to NWLC and many other committed organizations and people – women and men who “get it” –  there has been enormous progress! Yet there is still is a long way to go to achieve equality.

It seems to me that Rita O’Grady, the leader of the women standing up for women’s rights in the film, Duffy Campbell and Marcia Greenberger, the other founder and Co-President of NWLC, all have a self awareness, an understanding of their values, and the commitment and courage to stand up for what is right and do the right thing, even though it may be very difficult.

When you watch Made In Dagenham, observe the leadership style of Rita O’Grady,her leadership with her heart and her courage, versus the men in management, who are in positions where leadership opportunities are present, and leadership is clearly needed, and yet they duck the issues.

I think it would do us all good to watch this film and think about how we can be more like Rita O’Grady.