The Bryant and May match girls and their place in Labour History. The Bryant and May match girls were the girls who worked in the Bryant and May factory making and boxing matchsticks. The girls who worked in the factory went on strike in 1888 because of the dangerous conditions and the unfair treatment of the workers. After three weeks of being on strike the factory owners agreed to meet the demands of the worker, and the strike was successful. The Bryant and May Match girl strike had a significant impact on the labour movement and women's rights. Many girls started working at the factory at only 13 years old and would have to work long and demanding hours for very low wages to be able to provide for their families. These girls lived in horrible …show more content…
The factory responded by attempting to force the girls to sign a contract that stated they were happy with their working conditions. A group of women refused to sing the contract which resulted in the group being fired. This caused 1400 girls who worked at the Bryant and May factory ro go on strike. The Bryant and May factory were not worried at first, they believed the girls would soon return as they needed the money, but they were wrong. The girls refused to go back and stayed on strike for multiple weeks despite not having any income at this time. The girls remained strong in their fight for their …show more content…
After three weeks the Bryant and May match factory announced that it would bring an end to the fines and that they were willing to re-employ the dismissed workers. The match girls accepted these terms and the strike was a success. The Bryant and May match girls strike was the first strike by unorganised workers to gain national publicity, The strike was also successful in helping to inspire the formation of unions all over the country. Soon after, the match girls union decided to change its name to the Matchmakers union, which welcomed both the female and male workers. The first elected TUC representative from the newly formed match makers union was Sarah Chapman. Sarah attended the international TUC with Annie Besant in London, where she was one of only 77 delegates. In 1890 Sarah attended the TUC again, where she was among almost 500 delegates and was one of only 10 women attending. Sarah Chapman is recorded as having seconded a motion in relation to The Truck