Commemoration of Calton Weavers
Allan McDougall Solicitors was proud to sponsor the Calton Weavers commemoration event on Sunday 22 September 2024 at the Calton Burial Ground in Glasgow.
The event remembered the Weavers, who in 1787 organised and participated in the first industrial action ever taken in Scotland. Protesting cuts to their pay, the Calton Weavers went on strike for 12 weeks. The action was brutally supressed as soldiers were ordered to open fire, killing three weavers instantly, leaving three fatally wounded, and several more injured.
The weavers were well educated, inspired by the American Revolution, and firmly believed in universal suffrage. Their struggle and ideology marked the nascent emergence of class consciousness in Scotland with an internationalist outlook.
Alice Bowman, associate solicitor in our employment law team attended the event. She said: “The event made me reflect on how much we take for granted today; the right to associate, the right to join a trade union and the right to strike. Without the courage of those who have gone before us, like the Calton Weavers, we would not have the labour and trade union movement that we have today, and none of the rights we presently have. I am grateful to the Calton Weavers Committee for keeping their memory alive”.
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