Home Name

Polikoff's Ltd.

Date

1915

History

Polikoff's was a factory which was part of Hackney's garment industry in the 20th century. It was owned by businessman Alfred Polikoff and was originally based in Rhondda, South Wales. They manufactured ready-to-wear tailored garments in their factory at 148-150 Mare Street. In 1932, the Polikoff's factory burnt down and they moved to their second site at Chatham Place. From 1952, Polikoff's shared this site in Hackney Central with Burberry.

In 1929, around 700 of Polikoff's 800 workers - mostly young, female employees - went on strike. This followed an earlier strike at Rego Clothiers Ltd., another clothing manufacturer in Hackney which had angered its workers by moving their site to Edmonton. The Polikoff workers went on strike in order to support the newly formed United Clothing Workers Trade Union, an organisation which formed after two union leaders, Sam Elsbury and Sara Wesker, broke away from the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers during the Rego strikes. Elsbury and Wesker were militant strike leaders, denounced by the NUTGW for their radical strikes and affiliations with communism.

The Polikoff and Rego strikers are remembered for singing humorous parody songs on the streets of Hackney which took aim at the NUTGW, their employers and even the Trade Union Congress. The Polikoff strike which lasted less than a month concluded with the workers returning to the factory after financial threats and pressure from their employers.
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