VSW046 Mair Matthewson, Metal Box, Neath

Mair left school at 14 and during the war she worked in a butchers. She started in Metal Box in 1946 making open tops. They were expected to make 750 tops a minute. Then new machines were brought in. She describes the departments in the factory, the special gloves they wore and the accidents. She notes that the girls were stopped from working on some machines and from working night shift. They had to lip-read because of all the noise. She became shop steward. There were two strikes there. She remembers celebrating Christmas and the social clubs. She was a member of the jazz band. She received a gold watch after 25 years’ service.