Hat tip Captain Swing and Society for the Study of Labour History (SSLH). West Ham’s first Labour council, 1898.In our continuing series on places in labour history, Mike Mecham argues that West Ham and Canning Town in East London…Read more…
Remembering Sarah Chapman – Matchgirls strike leader
Picture of Newham Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz and myself placing flowers at the grave of Matchgirls strike leader, Sarah Chapman.
Today family members and supporters were asked to place ‘A Flower for Sarah” either on her grave itself or “virtually” on social…Read more…
Visiting the grave of Matchgirl strike leader Sarah Chapman
Today I finally went to find the grave of Matchgirl strike leader, Sarah Chapman, in Manor Park cemetery. The Matchgirls strike of 1888 at the Byrant and May factory in Bow is an important event in trade union history. It was led by women and helped es…Read more…
Saving Sarah Chapman’s Grave & a Statue to honour the Matchgirls strike victory
I am a UNISON delegate to the TUC regional Council (LESE) which meets this Saturday and amongst the paperwork I was sent for it was an update on the campaign to save Sarah Chapman’s Grave in Manor Park Cemetery (Newham, East London).
Sarah (1862…Read more…
Portraying the Red Clydesiders – and young women of the East End!
A couple of events to draw your attention to today. Firstly an event slightly detached from its original slot in the Mayday celebrations – it was postponed from the original date of May 5 as that…Read more…
Singing on the picket line?
Is it a travesty of an important Victorian industrial dispute, to portray it as a musical? Particularly a musical rooted in the music hall tradition? Playwright Fatima Uygun doesn’t think so. She is…Read more…