The Women Chainmaker’s Strike of 1910

As March is Women’s History Month, I thought it was a great time to write a post I have meaning to do for a while now; The Women Chainmakers’ Strike of 1910, which helped to cement the idea of a minimum wage here in the UK. Hundreds of women, who made chains, mostly from the Cradley Heath area of the West Midlands, decided to show the world the awful conditions and poor pay they were having to endure. The story of these women who fought for their employment rights has thankfully increased in profile since the 100th anniversary in 2010, but is still not as well-known as it should be, which is partly why I am doing this post. Most of the information from this post has come from a teacher park from the National Education Union entitled ‘Mary Macarthur and the Cradley Heath Women Chainmakers’ Strike of 1910’ https://neu.org.uk/latest/library/mary-macarthur-and-cradley-heath-women-chainmakers-strike-1910.

Chains were a vital part of the Industrial Revolution and could range in size from large anchor chains for ships, to the delicate chains for jewellery. The large and medium sized chains were mostly made by men in large manufactories that could house chains of such a size. However, the smaller and more delicate chains were made by women and children in cramped, dark and dirty outbuildings near to their own houses. Not only that, they were reliant on a middleman, known as a ‘fogger’, who subcontracted the work out to the chainmakers from the manufacturers and then delivered the iron for the chains. They would then collect the chains once they were completed, and paid the women on the weight of the chains they produced, all whilst taking a percentage, which was usually around 25%.

Chainmaker’s premises in the Black Country Living Museum (2015), Jaggery via Wikimedia Commons

To give you a sense of how big an industry chainmaking was in the area, in the 1841 Census, there were 44 women chainmakers in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, by 1911, this had risen to 2,103. That number is out of a total of 7,323 chainmakers in total across England and Wales, with 2,000 of them coming from the Cradley Heath. At the same time, there were 938 small chain workshops, with 918 just in Cradley Heath.

Chains were the main source of income for the women of the area. The women worked 12 or 13 hour days, alongside looking after their children and other household duties, but also often only took a break to give birth, then were back in the workshop. On average, they were making 5,000 links each to make 5 shillings (around £19.50 in today’s money) a week. These women were right on the breadline and couldn’t afford a drop in their wages. Not only that, but they were unwilling to pay the subscription for union membership, if it meant sacrificing a meal on the table. It was this situation that was exploited by both the companies subcontracting the work, and the middlemen.

In 1909, the Trade Boards Act ensured that regulatory boards for low paid trades were established. It was hoped this would improve working conditions and pay for those in such industries. The first board to be established was the Chain Trade Board, which first met in January 1910. This board consisted of 3 appointed members, 6 workers’ representatives, including Mary Macarthur, who was involved in the Anti-Sweating League and National Federation of Women workers (more on her later), and 6 employers’ representatives.

Photograph of Mary Macarthur via the London School of Economics Flickr

It soon became apparent that there were issues with some employers who didn’t want to improve how the system already worked. However, by March 1910, there was an agreement to pay two and a half pence an hour as a minimum wage going forward, which was around a 100% increase for most of the workers. Whilst some of the employers agreed to pay this new rate straight away, most used a loophole to not pay this increase until August as part of a ‘consultation’ period. Another issue was that most of the working women were unable to read or write, and didn’t understand the legal forms they were expected to sign to agree to this. If they refused to sign, they were refused work.

To also take advantage of the ‘consultation’ period, employers were stockpiling chains at the old rates, so they could make more profit when they sold them on. Their hope was to stall the women long enough to make as many of them unemployed when the new rates came in properly. Of course this soon became public knowledge and the National Federation of Women’s Workers began to try to force companies to start the new pay rates immediately. This didn’t happen and in August 1910, strike action was called for, which was known at the time as the Cradley Heath Lockout.

Initially, 400 women came out on strike, all pledging to not sign a form designed to trick the women workers to opt out of the new pay rates. The issue is, that half of the women weren’t part of a union. This was soon to change, largely thanks to Mary Macarthur, who was part of the National Federation of Women’s Workers, and the figurehead for the national, and even international, campaign that was to follow. Macarthur used newspapers to get the injustice of the women chainmakers known, even encouraging donations to help provide for the women who were on strike.

Mary Macarthur addressing the crowds during the chainmakers’ strike (1910), Cradley Heath, Black Country Living Museum via Wikimedia Commons

The donations were varied and included not just money, of which by October £4,000 (around £312,600 today) was raised, but also included gifts in kind. The most important was probably a van load of bread and 2 hams to provide food for the women. This was probably a good thing as by September, the number of women on strike had raised to 648. With the strike numbers increasing, the employers had no choice but to meet, agreeing to the new rates that the big factories had already implemented, as well as to allow the unions to support the women who had already, probably unwittingly, signed against the new rates. It was also agreed that a list of employers who agreed to any future government intervention in the industry, known ass the White List, would be introduced. Some signed, but not all.

By the 6th September, some women had begun to return, but the vast majority of the total of 800 women in the end, were still on strike. Slowly more employers had agreed to the new terms and pay rates. The final meeting to persuade the last few employers happened on the 19th October, with the strike being officially called off by 22nd October, when the final employer signed the White List. Finally, not only the employers, but the percentage taking middlemen, were being called to account.

The work was still hard, but at least the women were now being paid better for it and able to provide for themselves and their families. Mary Macarthur returned to Cradley Heath after the end of the strike to check on the women she had fought for. To show their appreciation, 2,000 women came to say thank you and offered her a gold bracelet in honour of her efforts. Mary had shown women what they were capable of and now they had a bit of extra money, membership of the National Federation of Women’s Workers had risen from 2,000 members to 20,000.

Chainmakers Statue in Cradley Heath(2014), Stephan Rogerson via Wikimedia Commons

The strike also encouraged the establishment of more trade boards for other industries, ensuring that other forms of corruption were brought to the forefront. It also showed the government the need for a minimum wage for all workers. This was a system that also spread to other industries. So whilst the women had had to go through hell to get to this point, they were dogged in their determination and are to be commended for their efforts. Thankfully the Black Country Living Museum have kept their story alive by recreating what a chainmaking workshop like those used by the women of Cradley Heath, was like. The Cradley Heath Worker’s Institute, which was set up in 1912 as a reminder of the chainworkers, is also now at the Black Country Museum, after it was threatened in 2004 by the building of a bypass in the area. All of these still stand as a testament to their struggles.

Bibliography:

National Education Union, ‘Mary Macarthur and the Cradley Heath Women Chainmakers’ Strike of 1910’ teacher’s pack, https://neu.org.uk/latest/library/mary-macarthur-and-cradley-heath-women-chainmakers-strike-1910 University of Warwick’s Modern Records Centre, ‘The Cradley Heath Chain Makers’ Strike, 1910, https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/archives_online/exhibitions/cradleyheath/