Matchgirls Strikers Exhibition at House of Commons

 

Last week on Tuesday evening I was privileged to be invited to the opening of an exhibition in the House of Commons on the 1888 Matchgirls Strike in Bow, East London. This successful strike against low pay, bullying and unsafe working practices was organised and led by working class women. 

The exhibition was organised by the Great Granddaughter (Sam Johnson) of one of the strike leaders, Sarah Chapman who is buried in Newham. 

Many thanks to my MP, Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) for sponsoring the display. It was great to see Angela Rayner MP and James Asser MP also at the opening. 

I worked for many years in Bow, in a housing office directly opposite the site of the strike (the Bryant & May match making factory). 

Sarah Chapman House - Matchgirl Striker

This lunch time I attended the opening ceremony for a newly built community space and block of Council flats in Bow, Tower Hamlets. The block has been named after the Matchgirl Striker, Sarah Chapman. 

She was one of the leaders of the successful strike over fines and working conditions in 1888 at the Bryant & May Match factory in Bow.  

"Chapman and others involved in the strike have since been recognised as "pioneers of sex equality and fairness at work who left a lasting legacy on the trade union movement".[4]

It was great to meet in person and speak at long last to Sarah's great granddaughter, Sam Johnson and her husband Graham, who together with over relatives, supporters and local residents have formed the Charity "The Matchmaker Memorial". The Tower Hamlets Mayor, Lufter Rahman attended as did local Councillor, Asma Begum. 

Sarah is buried in a privately owned cemetery in Manor Park Newham and I was able to speak to residents who had also come to support the campaign.

After some words of welcome and explanation by Sam we were treated to some songs by a wonderful singer (whose name I sadly missed) dressed in period costume. I particularly enjoyed :-

"The Matchgirls' Song"

We'll hang old Bryant on a sour apple tree...(see full wording in photo)

(to the tune of "John Brown's Body").

By coincidence, many years ago I used to occasionally work in the old Housing office (Lanfranc) that used to be on this site. 

I shall look forward to the memorial headstone to Sarah being laid in the Manor Park cemetery as soon as is possible. 

New Music for the Matchgirls

 

New Music for the Matchgirls

Hello All,

 

This year marks the 135th anniversary of the Matchgirls Strike! We thought you would be interested to hear of some new music inspired by the Matchgirls story. 

 

We are very excited to announce our upcoming project, 'Striking Sparks: The Story of the Matchgirls'. In partnership with East London Music Group, we will premiere 'A Fair Field' by Jonathan Pease, in an evening of music in the Great Hall of the People's Palace at QMUL, telling the story of the 1888 Matchgirls Strike.

We will be welcoming East London Community Band, Aldersbrook Community Choir, Poplar Singers, and Victoria Park Singers to join us, along with a new children's choir, in what promises to be an epic performance. Look out for more info about the project over the next few weeks, on both our and the ELMG social media channels. See attachment, and you can get your tickets at EVENTBRITE.

 

We are also delighted to be running a local schools poetry competition for the second year running. The winning entrants will read their poems at the concert.

Best regards, 

 

Sam and Graham

 

Samantha and Graham Johnson

Founding Trustees

The Matchgirls Memorial

matchgirls1888statue@gmail.com |  www.matchgirls1888.org  

Council houses named after Matchgirls Strike leader - Sarah Chapman

 
Hat tip picture Tower Hamlets Council and report Ali G and article by East London Advertiser (note campaign in Newham to protect the grave site of Sarah Chapman in Manor Park Cemetery. - https://www.johnslabourblog.org/2020/03/visiting-grave-of-matchgirl-strike.html)

"Members of Sarah Chapman's family attended the name unveiling, along with Bow West councillors Asma Begum and Val Whitehead

A housing development being built in Bow has been named in honour of one of the leaders of the Matchgirls Strike.

Nine council homes and a community facility are to be named Sarah Chapman House.

Sarah, who lived in the East End all her life, worked at the Bryant and May factory as a teenager and played a key role in the 1888 strike action over working conditions.

Around 1,400 girls and women marched out of the factory on July 5, according to the East End Women's Museum.

Sarah became a member of the strike committee, which met with Bryant and May directors and whose demands were agreed to.

She then became the first Trade Union Congress (TUC) representative of the Match Makers' Union.

Her name was put forward for the Bow West project by resident Colum McGinley.

Colum joined members of Sarah's family to reveal the name of the development, which will be complete next May.

Sarah's grandson Ken Dearman said he was thrilled there would be a "fitting memorial" to his grandmother.

Her great granddaughter Carol Watts added: “How pleased we are, as a family, that Sarah is being honoured for her contributions to the Matchgirls Strike with the naming of this new community facility and affordable housing."

The development will provide five three-bedroom, three two-bed and one one-bed council homes, as well as the community facility on the ground floor and cycle storage.

Work began last March after planning permission was granted in 2019.

Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs said: “It’s fitting that we are naming these new council homes after Sarah Chapman to allow her name to live on.

"The Matchgirls Strike of 1888 was a poignant movement of strike action within Tower Hamlets and its important stories like this can be continued to be told.

“The delivery of these new council homes and community facility will benefit local residents in Bow West which I’m sure Sarah would be delighted about today.”

Cllr Danny Hassell, cabinet member for housing, added: “The story of Sarah Chapman will never be forgotten within this area of Tower Hamlets.

"The naming of this development acts as a reminder to the historic legacy she has left."

Sanford Jacoby - Sunny California to the Roman Road.

Last week I was interviewed by UCLA Professor, Sanford (Sandy) Jacoby. Sandy’s “field of interest is US Business, economic, and Labor history”. He is investigating British Pension funds as part of his research for a new book and has interviewed a number of “usual suspects” in the so far relatively small UK union capital stewardship world.

I really enjoyed the interview. It is not that often (in fact far too rare) that you have open and honest, purposeful, out of the box conversation about what is to you really interesting and important stuff. It wasn’t only a one way conversation since I learnt lots of fascinating information about what is going on in America and what how this may relate to the UK.

My basic understanding is that in the States, trade unions are far more organised with regard to Capital Stewardship than in the UK but have very limited legal rights under company law. While in the UK we have far more legal rights (in theory) but are far, far less organised.

My previous experience of being interviewed by Professors was not always a particularly pleasant one when I was an undergraduate (many, many moons ago). Since we didn’t always see eye to eye on the importance of such things as attending early morning lectures, preparing for tutorials and submitting essays on time.

See this article about Sandy’s research. The big American Car giants have just received huge Federal loans. However, Sandy points out that the blame for the near collapse of traditional US car makers lies not with the workers but with its senior executives. They decided to plough the profits they made in the good times into share buybacks and increased dividends rather than reinvestment ($20 billion in 1980’s).

Companies such as General Motors (GM) failed to invest in research, new models and alternative technology. Toyota in a conscious decision at the time didn’t use its money in this way; they invested in research and alternatives while still looking after their shareholders and are now reaping the benefits.

What interests me is why GM executives (and their professional financial advisers) made this completely destructive decision? Is it just too simplistic to say that the owners of companies such Toyota are more interested in the sustainability of long term profits and therefore made sure that their company executives followed this line? While GM owners handed responsibility to traders who were only concerned with short term gains and ensured that GM executives were also incentivised by short term bonuses. (This is my interpretation of Sandy’s article). This resulted in gas guzzlers piling up unsold in GM dealers while Toyota exports its hybrids around the world.

The London weather was not particularly nice but is was dry. Sandy asked me whether he could take a different route back to the underground station. I suggested walking back via the former Bryant & May buildings where the famous Matchgirls strike of 1888 took place. Sandy, a Labour Movement historian knew of this strike and was pleased to be walking past this site. He mentioned that he thought the whole of the East End was just full of historical buildings, places and monuments important to the history of the Labour movement.

Yes, but it takes a visitor to make us remember this.

A Celebration of the 1888 "Matchgirls" Strike

Next Saturday 18 October 2008 the GLATUC are holding an event at Congress House to mark the 120th anniversary of the 1888 Bryant & May “Matchgirls” Strike.

“In July 1888 1400 women and girls walked out on strike at the Bryant & May factory in Bow, East London. The demands of these female workers included the reinstatement of a fellow worker, higher wages, a proper dining room and the freedom to form a trade union...the strikers marched to the House of Parliament where they met MPs; they gained support for their grievances. Public pressure and the falling price of Bryant & May’s shares encouraged this bullying employer to meet the women’s demand in full....The strike gave a massive boost to trade unions organising in London and across the country” (pdf flyer).

I have posted on the strike briefly before - here and here. I work very close to the old factory where the strike took place and walk or drive past it most days (Fairfield Road). The factory itself was rebuilt in 1911 and is now converted into expensive private flats (a so-called gated community). This is a shame but it is still quite an inspiring historical monument to the birth of trade unionism and also the suffragette movement.