“Sweated labour” – The employment of workers for long hours, in poor conditions, for low pay.
On the 9th November 1888 John Burnett, labour correspondent of the Board of Trade, presented a report to the House of Commons. It was entitled, “Report as to the condition of nail makers and small chain makers in South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire”.
Apart from the ending of the “truck” system, which obliged workers to accept payment in tokens that could only be spent in the company's shop, and what he describes as the “excessive employment of children”, all of the “evils” identified in earlier reports as being a feature of the chain trade still existed in 1888. He suggests that, as a result of increased competition, population and mechanisation, these evils had been intensified.
It was the opinion of Burnett that, “the domestic workshop is the root from which spring most of the evils of the nail and small chain trades”. Consisting of mostly women workers, this sector of the industry was blighted by the middleman or “fogger”. The labour market was overstocked and, therefore, overproduced its product. This forced down prices allowing the middlemen to step in and buy the product for which the makers could find no other market.
The situation was worsened by the fact that the Factory Acts did not apply in domestic workshops. This led to poorer working conditions, and allowed goods to be made at lower prices. Although the Education Act had done much to limit the employment of young people, many opportunities for avoiding the authorities existed in the domestic situation. A downward spiral of low wages and poor working conditions was inevitable.
Burnett’s conclusion was that the Factory Acts should be extended to cover the domestic workshops. This would require the registration of all workshops, together with a greater number of inspectors to ensure that the Factory, Education and Truck Acts were enforced. The scales and weights of all the masters would be subject to inspection, with masters being obliged to display their prices , so that workers would know what they were to be paid. But, before all these measures could be put in place, he suggested that a Royal Commission should carry out an inquiry into the nail and chain trades, and that the Committee of the House of Lords on the Sweating System should take evidence from the nail and chain districts.
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| Updated: | Mon 25 Jun 2007 - 1 |
| Interpretation written by | Louis Howe |
| Author's organisation | Curatorial |
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