Striking Women

 


STRIKING WOMEN

Lysistrata

In 411 BC, Lysistrata, a bawdy comedy, by Aristophanes, had ‘em rolling in the amphitheatres of Ancient Greece. The play is often performed today with a strong feminist slant, although if you look carefully the politics are probably a bit dodgy. Lysistrata, the heroine, is tough, principled and resolute. She’s fed up with the ongoing war between Athens and Sparta, so encourages the women of Greece to go on a sex strike and stop sleeping with men until peace is declared. They all solemnly agree. After lots of slapstick, including the older women of Athens seizing the Akropolis and pouring water over a chorus of decrepit old men who are trying to smoke them out, all the men gather (exhibiting physical signs of extreme desperation), and peace is agreed. 

Of course it’s a bit ironic that all the actors in Ancient Greece would have been men, but the ideas in the play have continued to resonate. And it is very funny.

A millennium or so later…. Women working in appalling conditions, low pay, the courage to act.

When we jump forward to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, women workers who dared to strike have faced hostility and violence. But these strikes, even when ending in failure or minimal improvement, have been instrumental in bringing about profound changes in working conditions for women. 

The ‘Lowell Mill Girls’ of Massachusetts and the ‘Match Girls’ of East London.

In the 1830s female textile workers in Lowell Massachusetts were smugly described by the factory owners as ‘literary mill girls’ and ‘a most superior class of factory operative’, but the reality was bleak boarding houses, harsh rules and working hours from 5am to 7pm.

Conditions deteriorated in 1834 when a reduction in wages prompted a ‘turn-out’ or strike. It failed after a few days, but the women’s resilience and determination continued. After a rent increase in 1836 they formed the Factory Girls Association and held another strike involving 1500 women.

‘Our rights cannot be trampled on with impunity!’

Following a successful outcome the women then formed a union, petitioned for a 10 hour working day and produced an influential series of ‘Factory Tracts’.

On July 5 1888, women workers walked out of the Bryant and May match factory in Bow, East London. An article by the campaigner Annie Besant had exposed the long hours, fines, low pay and risk of bone cancer (‘Phossy Jaw’) from white phosphorus at the factory. In a hostile response the factory owners sacked 3 women and threatened to sue Annie Besant for libel. Some 1400 women workers aged between 15 and 20 then walked out.

‘Well,  it just went like tinder, one girl began and the rest said ‘yes’ and out we all went’

A huge furore followed with press and Parliament getting involved. By 17th July the workers had been reinstated and demands met, including the right to form a union. This strike together with the dock strike of 1889, led to the formation and growth of the labour movement.

Significant and memorable strikes by women continued in Britain throughout the twentieth century. For example:

  • The London Transport Strike of 1918 resulted in women receiving the same bonuses that had been granted to men doing equivalent work. 
  • The Dagenham women’s strike of 1968 was an important factor in the passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1970.
  • The Leeds Clothing Workers strike of 1970 saw 20,000 women from 45 factories marching in protest against a low wage increase.
  • South Asian women fought hard and persistently in the 1975 dispute about working conditions at the Grunwick film processing factory in London. It became a defining moment for race relations.

From Ancient Greece to 20th Century Iceland.

Kvennafridagurinn

Remember Lysistrata? Well, in 1975, on October 24th, Icelandic women organised their own variation on the theme. They called it a ‘Women’s Day Off’ instead of a strike, and 25,000 women refused to work, to cook, to clean or to care for children. Men had to take their children to work with them and the country almost ran out of sausages because they were the only food most men knew how to cook. The ‘day off’ became an annual event, and Iceland is currently leading the world in closing the gender gap.

January 2023

Women Leaders

We are in the midst of a wave of public sector strike action. Women are playing a significant part in the industrial action, both as participants and as union leaders. The faces and voices of Sharon Graham, Christina McAnea, Mary Bousted, Pat Cullen, Jo O’Grady, Minette Batters and Sara Gorton are becoming as well known as those of the  male leaders of the 70s and 80s.

A final thought.

The Global Gender Gap

This was introduced in 2006, to benchmark progress towards gender parity and to compare countries’ gender gaps in 4 areas. 146 countries were benchmarked in 2022, with Iceland at the top and Afghanistan at the bottom. The UK comes in at number 22, below countries like The Philippines, Albania and South Africa. The most recent shows a narrowing of the gap from 67.9% in 2021 to 68.1% in 2022. At this rate it will take 132 years to close the gap.

            Are we really prepared to wait for 132 years?


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



















Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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