@radicalteatowel

Here's a snippet of our new Matchgirls' Strike tea towel, out now! In this summer of industrial action, we thought we'd celebrate one of the lesser-known strikes in British industrial history: The Matchgirls' Strike of 1888. Fourteen-hour workdays, poor pay, excessive fines, and severe health complications - no wonder the workers at Bryant & May decided to go on strike. The workers were mainly poorly paid young women whose work put them at risk of industrial illnesses like the bone-rotting "phossy jaw" caused by white phosphorous used in match manufacture. The strike was sparked by the dismissal of one of the workers on or about 2 July 1888. By the end of the first day, approximately 1,400 women and girls had joined the strike, forcing the firm to improve pay and conditions. It was seen as a landmark victory in the early years of British socialism, and in 1908 the House of Commons passed an Act prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in matches after 31 December 1910. An Early Day Motion tabled in the UK Parliament in 2020 recognised the matchgirls as “pioneers of gender equality and fairness at work who through their strike action and formation of the Union of Women Match Makers left a lasting legacy on the trade union movement." #matchgirls #matchgirlsstrike #strike #industrialaction #strikeaction #bryantandmay #match #matches #phosphorus #socialism #history #historian #workingclass #workingclasshistory