Jimmy Reid owes his fame and his place in the pantheon of Scottish radicalism to one event: the UCS work-in of 1971. Reid was not the only leader of the workforce; others, such as James Airlie, Sammy Gilmore and Sammy Barr, also played important roles as part of a truly collective leadership. But it was Reid's powers of communication and leadership that symbolised the coalition of resistance that developed on the Clyde in response to the Tory government's attempt to close UCS and throw the men on the industrial scrapheap. The decision by the trade union leadership in the yards to stage a work-in rather than go on strike or stage a sit-in caught the imagination of constituencies of people way beyond the geographical parameters of the upper reaches of the River Clyde. The press and public were astounded by the audacity of these young (mainly communist) shop stewards. They led marches to Downing Street, orchestrated mass demonstrations in Glasgow and generated a huge wave of international sympathy and support for their actions. The refusal of the workers to accept the messianic logic of the free market laid the basis of, and inspiration for, a wider struggle against the Heath government and its attempts to reform industrial relations and roll back the frontiers of the state.

Shipbuilding on the Clyde had been in trouble since the end of the Korean War; and since 1953 had been rapidly losing its place as a major producer in world markets. In 1956, Japan deposed the United Kingdom as the leading nation in shipbuilding output, remaining the leading producer of ships for the rest of the century. By 1958, Germany had put the UK into third place, with the latter only commanding 15 per cent of world output. Thereafter, the UKs share of world shipbuilding output continued to decline. On the Clyde, there were 28 shipyards in 1950, but by 1968 only nine remained. Many of the Clyde's most iconic yards such as Harland and Wolff, and William Denny had collapsed in the 1960s. The latter was particularly well remembered: the workers left off work on Friday and when they returned on Monday the gates had been padlocked and they were jobless.