WIREDGOV

Throughout the Industrial Revolution, the Birmingham and Black Country the trades diminished the lives of the Black Country nascent working class would have been part of a huge profit making British industrial sector, which valued human life cheaply and finite.

Metalwork from this huge region would undoubtedly have found its way into the transatlantic slave trade in many ways with many purposes, over the time that this trade in humans was so brutally and cruelly taking place, commodifying lives of those transported from Africa, in the most horrific manner.

At the time of the Women Chainmakers’ dispute in 1910, Slavery in the UK and Europe had been abolished for over 70 years, slaves in the colonies became free after a period of forced apprenticeship following the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. Slavery in America continued until 1865. 

It is a devastating realisation that our ancestors may have produced shackles and chain that enslaved the ancestors of our friends and colleagues. Whilst it is evident that many chains, cuffs, shackles or locks used in the abhorrent slave trade were made in Birmingham and  the Black Country, it would be wrong and short-sighted to blame one industry alone for a history which connected so many Birmingham and Black Country trades. A more collective acknowledgement and learning about this aspect of British past would be a worthier response to injustices perpetuated by their role within the development of a bloodstained empire. 

The White Slaves Of England / Slaves Of The Forge

The women made small gauge chain from metal rods to the specification of middle men. It is doubtful they knew what that chain was for. They were uneducated, oppressed women with no rights, whose World view was confined to their very small World of the home and the Chain Shop in 1910. The women were frequently referred to as “The White Slaves Of England” and as “ Slaves Of The Forge”, following commentators of the day visiting the area to see first hand the mediaeval conditions that they worked and reared children in. 

These terms were used by the middle class campaigners to illustrate the plight of the women workers who neither owned nor controlled their means of production. It is true that they worked in hot, dangerous and squalid conditions, for starvation wages. Sadly, whilst they had their inherited experience and high level of skill, they did not own the very tools with which they worked, nor did they own the materials that they forged into chain for their masters. 

They were not treated as women, sisters, mothers or daughters but instead, as an inconvenience that was able to produce lengths of chain for next to nothing. These Women were victims of economic slavery who were fully controlled by the Foggers (often other women) and the Chain Masters who made vast profits at their expense. One social commentator described Cradley Heath as 'hell'. Whilst the chain masters would have profited from any historical links to the slave trade, the chainmakers of Cradley Heath did not. 

The terms "White Slaves of England" and "Slaves Of The Forge" describe a different form of human slavery and a different time in history where things eventually began to change for the better, with the establishment of working conditions and pay rates that were fairer. These terms should not detract from the Slavery associated with the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the continued underrepresentation in history of the African, African Carribean and Asian Community. Unity of all oppressed people including Black and Asian people, Women, Disabled people, LGBT+ people and the working class is what empowers us and is the key to overcoming the most divisive aspects of oppression that so many face today.

We celebrate the success of those working-class women winning a living wage in 1910, 18 years before all women won the right to vote. The women chainmakers of Cradley Heath lived and worked in horrific conditions. With no power or control over their daily lives, we commemorate the women chainmakers' success in organising and standing up to their oppressors who profited from their exploitation. Through organising in trade unions, we challenge exploitation in the workplace – and as trade unionists we stand with all those that face oppression and subjugation in whatever form. Unity of all oppressed people is what empowers us and is the key to overcoming the most divisive aspects of oppression that so many face today. This is an ongoing project, nevertheless a statement of this sort was warranted.

This subject is complex and at times unsavoury; but should enable people to have open and transparent discussions and debate.