What was the matchgirls' strike

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Q.� More details

A.� In June 1888, reformer Annie Besant (click here for a feature on this vicar's wife and atheist) heard a Fabian Society speaker give details of the appalling pay and conditions of the women working at the Bryant & May match factory in Fairfield Road, Bow, east London. She was horrified and went to talk to some of the workers. She discovered that the women worked 14 hours a day for less than five shillings a week.

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Q.� Five shillings Scandalous!

A.� And, they did not always received their full wage because of a system of fines -�ranging from 3d to a shilling�-�for such offences as talking, dropping matches or taking a lavatory break without permission. If workers were late, they were fined a half-day's pay. And there were health problems, too.

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Q.� Such as

A.� The women's health had been severely affected by the phosphorus they used to make the matches. This caused yellowing of the skin, hair loss and 'phossy jaw' -�a form of bone cancer. The whole side of the face turned green and then black, discharging foul-smelling pus. Then they died. Phosphorus was banned in Sweden and the USA, but the British government refused - arguing that it would be a restraint of free trade.

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Q.� The start of a campaign

A.� Yes. On 23 June 1888, Annie Besant wrote a hard-hitting article in The Link - a newspaper she ran - headlined White Slavery in London. Bryant & May reacted by attempting to force their workers to sign a statement that they were happy with their conditions. A group of women refused to sign, and the organisers were sacked. The response was immediate: 1,400 women at Bryant & May went on strike. Bryant & May matches were boycotted and - despite Establishment newspapers blaming socialist agitators - the strike began to bite.

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Q.� Led by Besant

A.� Yes. The workers formed a Matchgirls' Union with Besant its leader. After three weeks, the company buckled and said it would re-employ the dismissed women and bring an end to the fines system. The women accepted, triumphantly. The dispute was the first strike by unorganised workers to gain national publicity - and it inspired the formation of unions all over the country.

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Q.� What about the phosphorus

A.� That continued in use. Besant, with others, including William Booth of the Salvation Army (click here for a feature on him), continued to campaign against its use. In 1891 the Salvation Army opened its own match factory in Old Ford, east London. It used only the harmless red phosphorus, and was soon producing six million boxes a year. It also paid twice the wages of Bryant & May.

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Q.� An effective piece of PR.

A.� Yes - and Booth organised conducted tours for MPs and journalists around this model factory. The bad publicity that Bryant & May received forced the company to reconsider its policy. In 1901, managing director Gilbert Bartholomew announced it had stopped used yellow phosphorus.

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by Steve Cunningham

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