Did the match strikes deliver the success that those involved in them had hoped for?
The match strikes at the Bryant and Factory of 1888 can be considered as a vastly significant event in Britain in relation to labour rights, and is reasoned to be a large victory for the working-class women of the East End. It cannot be denied that these strikes were instrumental in the amelioration of circumstances for those involved, both materially and figuratively. According to Sarah Boston, the strikes acted as ‘The match that lit the explosion of ‘new Unionism’’. This alone establishes the match strikes as an important moment in history, and did improve the lives for those involved. This essay will put forth the argument that these strikes were successful,
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The women were supervised by a factory foreman, who acted as an intermediary between the girls and management. The foreman was notorious for his poor handling of the workers. The women were told ‘never mind your fingers’ when operating the machinery. This on various occasions led to those who followed the foreman’s instructions losing a limb, and hereafter also without support. According to Annie Besant’s article, the foreman also was a man of ‘variable temper’, who delivered blows to the women when he was enraged. Poor conditions can be evidenced further from The Bitter Cry of Outcast London, which exposed children as young as twelve working for the factory; some being solely responsible for their own wellbeing. The women demanded that all future complaints should be taken straight to the management without having to involve the foremen who had prevented the management from knowing of previous disputes. A demand which Bryant and May reluctantly conceded to, stating that they had continually been ready to give their ‘most careful attention to any complaints’ that were brought to their attention. It is evidenced here that the match strikes were successful for the women involved, that Bryant and May submitted to their demands and officially took on theirs concerns shows us the positive effect of the match …show more content…
Workers were forced to come into close contact with white phosphorus without proper safeguards, thus allowing the vapours to damage their jaws. Many developed the disease ‘phossy jaw’, which was a form of bone cancer that could ultimately lead to death. Those suffering from this disease were given little compassion, as the journal Freedom notes that a woman displaying symptoms was commanded by the foreman ‘to have her teeth drawn on pain of dismissal.’ The likeliness of developing the affliction increased exponentially as girls were forced to eat at their workstations, thus contaminating their food. The women were provided with a breakfast room following the strike to reduce the risk of infection. Despite the dangers it posed, white phosphorus was continually used after 1888, therefore girls were still subjected to unsafe conditions, opposing the successes of the strikes. The Star revealed that in 1898 there had been six more cases of phosphorus necrosis, as well as five deaths since 1892. It was only in 1910, that the use of white phosphorus was finally banned in factories. Consequently with regards to health, the argument can be made that the match strikes did deliver the success the women hoped for, to the extent that precautions were put in place to lower the chances of developing cancer. However, this alone would not have been
The first young lady Ann Eggley had worked in the mines since the age of 7. The mine in which she worked did not subject her to having to work with naked men and boys. . Everyone wore “trousers”. The men did not “insult” the females. She was also provided a” good supper” however sometimes they did not get enough and there also wouldn’t be enough time to eat or drink. She also, like the other female interviewees worked 12 shifts. Although she worked at mine that was not as bad as Patience Kershaw, she still was overworked as a female.
Many of the lives that were taken in the fire tried to fight their way out it but they could not, because doors were locked and also because they just could not escape. The story also involves stories of women and immigrant women’s who came to America to find a difference and fight hard to maintain their families. The Triangle Factory was three floors and was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the Triangle Waist Company produced shirtwaists, or women’s blouses and employed more than five hundred workers, many who were Jewish and Italian women. The author talks about how unjustly the girls were treated while working, being at work in the machine since seven in the morning and leaving the machine at 8 at night, with just a one-half hour lunch in that time. That was the life the girls were living in the shop, a life that could have been handled better. Many argument that Argersinger had were sweatshop conditions in the factories during this tragic event, development of series of laws and regulations to protect the safety of the
“Industrial unions dominated the landscape of the late nineteen century U.S. labor movement.” They gathered all level workers together without discrimination of gender, race, or nationality. They declared the eight-hour workday for the first time when normal work time should be 12. Low wage of workers caused the “Great Strike of 1877”, which began with railroad workers in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. After the “Great Strike”, industrial union started to
... were left unprotected and abandoned by the unions. How is it that the unions can demand labors lose months of wages, be subject to labor blacklisting and ultimately sacrifice their lives without any protections for the strikers and still claim success? They can’t. If anything, the Pinkertons who dispersed the crowd did more to help the worker, by reopening the Homestead, than the union had done. Thus, the unions were an utter failure in furthering the position of the laborer, as the laborer was better off before hand. Before unions the laborer had their life, as many died in failed strikes, and their dignity, as society at least held an intrinsic value in their lives. However, unions succeeded in decimating any chance of advancement by tarnishing the reputations of all laborers, leading to a direct decline in the socio-economic position of the blue-collar worker.
Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after this fire, and the work industry would never remain the same again.
The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in American history and it came about during a period of unrest with labor unions and controversy regarding the role of government in business.5 The strike officially started when employees organized and went to their supervisors to ask for a lowered rent and were refused.5 The strike had many different causes. For example, workers wanted higher wages and fewer working hours, but the companies would not give it to them; and the workers wanted better, more affordable living quarters, but the companies would not offer that to them either. These different causes created an interesting and controversial end to the Pullman strike. Because of this, questions were raised about the strike that are still important today. Was striking a proper means of getting what the workers wanted? Were there better means of petitioning their grievances? Was government intervention constitutional? All these questions were raised by the Pullman Strike.
The Women’s Trade Union League was established in 1903 during the height of the Progressive Era. Elite women and eventually working women as well, set out to improve the lives of the poor, working class women in the United States by promoting to both men and women the importance of the workingwomen coalescing into unions. They believed that organization and education were the keys to enacting change in the workplace and protecting the workingwomen’s economic interest. The WUTL gave women a place to meet and discuss important issues regarding their problems with their employers and their working conditions while also providing a mechanism for funding the strikes as well as support and experience. This was the role they played in the many strikes that took place in the early 20th century and they continued to believe that unions were the answer to the struggles that women faced as a result of industrialization. After the war and the granting of Women’s suffrage, the issues that faced the Women’s Trade Union League took an international turn in reaction to the devastation of the World War and the WTUL also faced internal debate with women in the United States about the legitimacy of the protective laws put in place that restricted the amount of hours women could work. Acknowledging the ultimate failure of their efforts for the past 20 years to organize the female labor force or integrate them into the male unions, they turned their attention to defending protective laws and promoting peace as a means of fulfilling their purpose of improving the welfare of working women.
...e strikers. As opposed to picking a neighbor they had known all their lives, under vigilant parental eyes, ladies were a tease on the picket lines or the shop floor.
A fire that was said to be caused from an unextinguished match or cigarette, set ablaze this highly flammable work environment. This tragedy brought attention to the unregulated/unsafe working conditions that the women who had lost their lives were experiencing. In response, the Ladies Waist-makers Union formed one of the world’s largest female strikes. This is an example of a successful strike that was effective in achieving higher wages and improved working conditions. This strike marked the significance of women workers organizing and achieving bargaining
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
The lower, middle, and upper classes started to form and that change the landscape of the nation. Workers that were frustrated with they pay and working conditions started to form unions and strikes to get what they want. One example of that was when journeymen shoemakers formed a protest in 1806 (AH, 339). They even received some free press to further their cause through the Phalanx by calling out for a “strike for wages” (AH, S11-5). Even though some of the strikes were unsuccessful, it was clear that workers had a voice when banding together to help change their working
Turbulent times of a newly freed democracy bred a longing for civil liberties and birthed what would become equality for all. The United States of America, known for independence, has not always been balanced in its freedom. The labor movement in America was a significant step in developing equal opportunity. In the nation’s infancy, working conditions were abominable. Workers were underpaid, overworked, and abused. Women and children in the workforce were ubiquitous in certain industries, often earning far less than a man would. Countless laborers were injured or killed on the job, and there was no health insurance. If a worker was wounded while working, he or she would simply be replaced. As a result of the deplorable labor environment, unions
Mary Barton tells the story from the laborer's point of view, but we are not without knowledge of the mill owner's side of it either, especially through the philosophical wisdom of Job Legh. In her attempts to present the plight of the laborer in Manchester, Elizabeth Gaskell has not neglected to make us understand the importance and significance of the industrial movement, as well as the great possibilities it possessed.
Pat Barker’s Union Street is one of the first feminine books. The term feminism is considered to be a representation of the images of women declared by literature. The scope of this movement was to examine the authorship as well as the consistency of women. (Barry116) It was particularly written in an era when people had to face Margaret Thatcher’s England. She was the first and only female Prime Minister of Great Britain and she had also been constantly referred as the “iron lady”. Considering Margaret Thatcher’s gender, the reader ends up supporting that her sex had nothing to do with her politics. It was in other words, a secondary issue. (n.p) Margaret Thatcher’s authority as well as her power ended up being abused. “Mrs. Thatcher's unique mark was also felt in the two confrontations that ultimately undid her. The first was the poll tax, which was disastrous, unjust and was her policy alone.” (n.p) In order to be more specific based on her ideologies and strategies, British people had to leave under cruel conditions. The power and the influence of the made unions was reduced as well as a huge amount of jobs have been lost. Additionally, Pat Barker’s novel is considered to be a reflection towards the conflicts of maintaining a community and its identity in a working class culture. The reader seems to be aware of how the loss of thousand jobs can be regarded as a serious, negative affection towards the relationship between the two genders. Pat Barker’s “Union Street” also addresses the issue based on gender relations and how the loss of economic secure can destroy the unity of a family as well as the relation between the two distinctive sexes. The term Union can be regarded as a nostalgic imagination of working class life as wel...
As the strike progresses, the French management decides to "starve out" the striking workers by cutting off local access to water and applying pressure on local merchants to prevent those shop owners from selling food on credit to the striking families. The men who once acted as providers for their family, now rely on their wives to scrape together enough food in order to feed the families. The new, more obvious reliance on women as providers begins to embolden the women. Since the women now suffer along with their striking husbands, the wives soon see themselves as active strikers as The strategy of the French managers, or toubabs as the African workers call them, of using lack of food and water to pressure the strikers back to work, instead crystallizes for wor...