chainworkers

The National Assembly of Women

The Chainmakers of Cradley Heath

A rally has been held to mark a 10-day strike staged by women workers nearly 100 years ago which helped establish the minimum wage movement in Britain.

The chainmakers of Cradley Heath, West Midlands, secured a 150% pay rise for some of their lowest paid colleagues following the landmark lock-out in 1910.

Union leaders were set to urge workers fighting for protection against unequal treatment and abuse by exploitative employers to take inspiration from the victory, which they said was won in the face of great adversity.

Diana Holland, national organiser for women, race and equalities at the Transport and General Workers' Union, said the chainmakers were divided by employers, who put men and women on different pay rates, and exploited by middlemen who refused to pay minimum rates agreed between the industry and better employers.

Many women also worked from home or on the streets, which made it harder for them to organise for industrial action.

Speaking ahead of the rally, attended by veteran ex-Labour MP Tony Benn and former General Secretary of the T&G Sir Bill Morris, Ms Holland said the event at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley was designed to recognise the contribution made by women to Britain's industrial heritage.

She said: "Heavy industrial work carried out for a pittance and with no basic protections. It is horrifying to imagine what the lives of these women and girls were like.

"The placard one of the women strikers carried said 'England's Disgrace - Locked Out After 67 Years Chain Making'.

"And when they won, the victory meant over a 150% pay increase for the lowest paid, from less than one old penny an hour, up to two and three-quarters pence in 1910."

Ms Holland said important progress had subsequently been made on issues raised in the strike, including the national minimum wage, better protection for home workers and improved family policies.