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Life in Preston’s cotton mills was extremely tough and in 1853, 18,000 workers decided they had had enough.
They went on strike and campaigned for a ten per cent pay increase, a ten-hour workday and better workplace conditions, kickstarting the famed Preston Lock-outs.
The strikes are remembered throughout Lancashire as a symbol of resistance and strength in the face of unfairness and the male leaders are revered for their organisation and speeches.
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However, the majority of strikers, around 11,800 of the 18,000, were actually women and it is crucial that their involvement in the strikes is highlighted.
What were the Preston Lock-outs?
The Preston Lock-outs were a series of strikes by cotton mill workers in response to a reduction of wages; they lasted for seven months, between 1853-54.
Shortly after starting the strike, workers were locked out of the mills, hence it became known as the ‘Preston Lock-outs’.
Although the strikes were ultimately unsuccessful, they brought national attention to the issues surrounding cotton mills and the conditions workers had been expected to endure.
Their actions were even praised by well-known German philosopher Karl Marx, who was impressed by the workers’ ‘good sense’ and praised their actions.
How and why did women participate in the strikes?
Despite garnering a lot of attention, few accounts about the Preston Lock-outs praise the actions of women, despite women making up an estimated 66 per cent of the strikers.
One of the biggest motivations for women may have been financial stability. Unlike other industries rates for cotton mill workers were based on the job title and not on gender, meaning they would receive equal working and strike pay to their male counterparts.
Wage equality was highly unusual for women during this time and meant that the textile industry was an attractive option. Although, the equal pay was likely a reflection of poor salaries across the county as opposed to a push for gender equality and it did not necessarily increase women’s social status in society. Despite this, earning a comparable salary to men may have given the women more say in household activities, more independence and more confidence.
Like their male counterparts, female weavers were passionate about supporting the strikes. Notable examples include the dismissal of two women from a Preston cotton mill in October 1853 for insubordination due to the fact they encouraged striking amongst their peers and the striking of 380 female weavers on 26th August 1853.
Some of the female strikers like Margaret and Anne Fletcher even travelled to trade union meetings to advocate for their strikes, a rare and unusual occurrence. Women were not just victims of circumstance during the strike but active participants.
Community support and societal changes may also have played a role in enabling women to continue their strike action. Some local churches opened up their schools, allowing girls and boys to attend their classes, with one weekly class having 35 female participants.
The ‘luxury’ of increased leisure time, due to the strikes may have also pushed women to continue their support. It opened up potential educational opportunities, not only for their children but for themselves, whilst they ‘got by’ on strike pay. Additionally, it demonstrated the small possibilities a ten-hour work may have given them.
Moreover, the rates of domestic abuse decreased in Preston during the strike action, likely due in part to the reduction in alcohol consumption. This may have been due to tighter budgets as families, often with several members to feed, had to prioritise the purchase of essentials.
Although, as Jane Greenlees argues in her fantastic paper Women and the Preston Lock-Out: not just ‘ten per cent‘, we cannot claim that this decline was an immediate factor for women’s participation, but it may have been a contributing one. For some women, experiencing temporary relief and peace in their domestic setting may have helped their sense of confidence in continuing to vote for strike action.
The actions of women during the Preston Lock-Outs challenges the notion that they were victims of circumstances or passive workers. Although brief, the strike remains significant for affirming women’s labour rights, evidenced by their strike pay and ongoing involvement in other strike movements.
It is crucial for our social history that we recognise women’s role in the strikes, especially as they made up a significant proportion of the strikers, and push to highlight women’s roles in not only Preston’s but the UK’s labour movements.
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