Back to the Victorians calendar
Trade Unions had been legal for some years,
in fact since 1871. Now they began to show some power. In the East End of London a company called Bryant and May employed mainly young girls to make matches. Not
only did they work with very dangerous chemicals, their working conditions were appalling.
The match girls worked from 6.30am (or 8am in winter) until 6pm, with just two breaks, standing all the time. A lady called Annie Besant interviewed
some of the girls. “A typical case”, wrote Besant, “is that of a girl of 16, a piece worker; she earns 4s a week, and lives with a sister, employed by the same
firm, who earns good money, as much as 8s or 9s per week’. Out of the earnings 2s is paid for the rent of one room; the child lives on only bread-and-butter and
tea, alike for breakfast and dinner”.
On 23rd June 1888, Besant published a shocking account in a magazine
called The Link, likening the Bow Road factory to a “prison-house” and describing the match girls as “white wage slaves”, “undersized”, “helpless” and “oppressed”.
Bryant and May tried to bully their workers into denying the article but on 5 July 1888 around 200 workers downed tools and walked out . The action
spread and soon 1,400 workers had walked out. Besant organised a strike fund and loads of money poured in. Bryant and May at first said all the claims were stupid
but, after 50 matchgirls had met with MPs, they changed their mind and reached an agreement with the strikers. The girls returned to work on 17 July 1888.
The success of the matchgirls strike gave working class people a new awareness of their power. In 1899 a Gas Workers and General Labourers Union
was formed and won an 8 hour day while in August of that year, 60,000 dockers went on strike for over a month. The working class were gaining power.
Then, in 1892, a Scotsman was elected to the West Ham South seat
in Essex. His name was Keir Hardie. The Liberals decided not to field a candidate, but at the same time not to offer Hardie any assistance. Competing against the
Conservative Party candidate, Hardie won by 5,268 votes to 4,036. Upon taking his seat on 3 August 1892, Hardie refused to wear the "parliamentary uniform" of
black frock coat, black silk top hat and starched wing collar that other working-class MPs wore. Instead, Hardie wore a plain tweed suit, a red tie and a deerstalker.
The press accused him of wearing a flat cap, headgear associated with the common working man. My own view, and I always tell you when it is just my view, is that as
long as you are not being disrespectful it is far less important how you dress as to how you behave and how honest you are.
In 1893 Hardie and a few others formed the Independent Labour Party, which a few years later became the Labour Party as we know it today. The old two
party system of Liberals and Tories was now being challenged.
Funnily enough, in February 2016, David Cameron, then Conservative Prime Minister, told Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party and the opposition, that he (Corbyn)
should smarten up his appearance. Cameron said that his mother would advise the Labour leader to "put on a proper suit, do up your tie and sing the national anthem".
In the fun world of politics the Labour Party later tweeted a quote from Albert Einstein (look him up) which said, "If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes
and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas & shoddy philosophies". Isn't politics fun?
Forward to 1897AD
