The dispute, which was notable for its level of picket-line violence and the involvement of women, ended with the closure of the Timex plant in the city after 47 years.
[7] It peaked at 6,000 total workers in 1974,[7] which made it one of the city's largest employers and gave it a unique place in the culture of Dundee.
[7] Timex management took the decision to diversify their manufacturing in Dundee, beginning in the early 1970s with contracts to produce Polaroid and Nimslo 3-D cameras.
[6] Initially, the mostly male workers at Milton were in support of the new shift towards electronics as it was done in consultation with the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU).
[4] The mostly male workers at the Milton plant became superfluous to this type of manufacture in Dundee as they produced watch components to be assembled at Camperdown.
[4] The facility had enjoyed a temporary reprieve in the early part of the decade due to Timex's contract with Sinclair Research to manufacture its personal computer products (principally the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum), which sold in huge numbers.
However, Sinclair's computer business was bought out in 1986 by Amstrad, who ended the lucrative contract, and once again the factory fell upon bad times.
[2][8] On Christmas Eve 1992,[6][9] Timex workers were informed by company management of plans to temporarily lay-off 150 employees, around half the workforce at the time,[10][11] due to poor business performance.
[12] The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU), acknowledged the business case for making lay-offs, but argued that the impact could be spread more equitably amongst the workforce.
[5][6] Strikebreakers tried to hide their identity from the picketers and media by covering their faces, and received threats of violence, verbal abuse and were pejoratively referred to as "scabs".
[5][6] On the 31 March, senior Timex executives, John Dryfe and Mohammed Saleh, visited the Camperdown factory to assess the ability of replacement workers to keep up with production quotas.
[18] Although none of the attendees would say what was discussed during the meeting, there is speculation that they considered softening their anti-union stance after initially attempting to bring practices in-line with Timex's labour relations policy in the United States.
[19] This was later confirmed by Timex vice-president Mohammed Saleh shortly after a "final offer" was rejected by AEEU negotiators, who said the company's proposals would mean a 27% pay cut and a two-year wage freeze without a guarantee for a secure future for the factory.
[13] Timex offered to bring in the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) to discuss the possibility of compensation for sacked employees.
[24][25] A documentary titled The Rise and Fall of Timex Dundee, directed by Andy Twaddle,[26] aired on BBC Scotland on 15 October 2019, as part of their People Power short series.