The Workers’ Institute building is a permanent monument to the determination of the women chainmakers to fight for a minimum wage, and to the dedication of their leaders to the cause of defeating “sweating”. Mary Macarthur, and all those involved with the strike, had given working class women their first taste of leadership and organisation. The 1910 strike gave them, probably for the first time, a voice within the trade union movement. It forced society to recognise the role women played in industry and as breadwinners for their families.
The women chainmakers had won a victory not just for themselves, however, but for the workforce in general. The 1910 action was a crucial test case on which the future of Trade Boards and their effectiveness to fix minimum wages rested. This first modern experiment in minimum wage legislation in Britain seemed to show that it could combat "sweating", increase organisation and promote collective bargaining, without serious economic consequences. “It was practically the first time in our history that the Government has recognised that the workers are entitled to a living wage” (Sheila Lewenhak, 1977)
Victory influenced the deliberations of the other three scheduled Trade Boards. A minimum wage was set in box making, lace making and the making of ready made clothes, without recourse to strike action.
The process was less smooth in other industries. A wave of strike action swept across the Midlands and the rest of Britain, from brick and metal trades, through to biscuit makers, rag pickers and distillery workers, to thousands of unskilled and unorganised men and women, who were labouring for less than £1 per week in factories and workshops. All won recognised rates of pay.
The newspaper article above speaks somewhat scathingly of the non-union chainmakers, who wanted higher wages, and were quick to collect their strike pay, but had not been willing before the strike to pay a union subscription. It concludes that, due to the success in securing the minimum wage, and the generous way in which they were treated during the strike, union membership ought to be at least doubled. Membership, in fact, did rise substantially, as it did in other trades.
The membership of tailoring unions shot up. A Card and Box Makers’ Union was formed. The successful nine-month campaign of the hollow-ware workers in Lye, resulted in the setting up of a 1,200 strong branch of the National Federation of Women Workers.
This period in history helped to establish Britain’s reputation internationally as a pioneer in low pay legislation. The foundation of today’s minimum wage has its roots in the victory of 1910.
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| Updated: | Mon 25 Jun 2007 - 0 |
| Interpretation written by | Barbara Harris |
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