"Girls' strike" and trade unions

From the match workers' strike in October 1889, Arbark's photo collection

The participants in the match workers' strike in 1889

The match workers' strike in 1889

From the matchmaker strike in 1889, there is a common thread from poisoning and downright dangerous working conditions in the early factories with the fight against child labor and long hours to today's Working Environment Act with HSE requirements and working time regulations. During the 1880s, workers in many of the craft trades managed to establish trade unions, which are still alive today.

Jonas Bals, narrator in the book Streik! that the industrial working class consisted of a third of women. The vast majority of these were young people between the ages of 15 and 30. Many children also worked in poor conditions, in mines, in tobacco mills, at glassworks, in sawmills and as matchmakers. He quotes the book "Dovre faller. Norge 1814 -2014": "... the modern industry (was) founded by diligent women's and children's hands." It was not until 1892 that the Factory Inspection Act prohibited child labour.

One of the sources Bals cites is Hanna Pedersen. She was seven years old when she started gluing matchboxes at home and said that was all they had for food, even though the whole family was involved in matchmaking.

There had been an increase in strikes in the past, but promises from the factory owners and threats of bankruptcy led to an end after a short time, although the working conditions did not change for the better.

The matchmaker strike of 1889 lasted longer, it gained support from others, it led to the establishment of a trade union and, not least, it managed to direct the public's spotlight on the extremely dangerous working conditions under which they worked.

According to first-hand source Karoline Kristiansen, the strike started when the girls and women at the match factory in Bryn led the way out of the factory in a spontaneous demonstration, spurred on by a notice of a wage reduction from six to five and a half øre per packaged gross. (144 matchboxes). The first to stop working came from a department with a strict regime where the supervisors often beat the employees. Girls and women from Bryn went in a united troop to the factory at Grønvold, where the packers had received the same message. There, the management had locked the women in the factory, but they stopped working even though they could not get out to the other strikers. The next day they didn't come to work either.

The boys, and the men, who were better paid, did not stop the strike.

Battle song

Rejoice, all you who want to win,

rejoice, now it dawns, the day of freedom.

The train, you see, is the Nordic woman,

raised to fight for the workers' cause.

Gathered around the fan, brave, strong

carried forward the demands of many thousands.

Daaren can smile, but soon he will notice:

forces lay hidden in the silent sea.

The firemen's strike song, 1889

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Not only among the match workers was there unrest due to poor working conditions. There were also strikes in the textile industry and at Hjula weaving, in 1890 and in 1908 (wage conflict with the result that wages increased from NOK 7.20 to 9 per week) and in 1917.

One of those who went on strike was Anna Christoffersen, born in 1873. She was employed at Hjula weaving in 1883, just 10 years old. In the 20th century, cards were made for each employee. On the back of her card it says: Strike in 1912. This strike in the textile industry led to working hours being reduced from 60 hours to 58 hours a week.

It is unclear why the cards were made, and it looks as if the workers were signed in and out of the health fund for various reasons. Some cards also date back to the 1800s. An example is Anna's card.

Anna worked as a weaver, that is, she worked on getting the warp of the fabric into the loom. She worked until 1937, and received a pension after that. The card states that Anna received the Medal for long and faithful service in 1928 and that she was ill in 1922.

Betzy Kjelsberg put the working environment on the agenda

Betzy Kjelsberg (1865-1950) was employed as the country's first female factory inspector in the Factory Inspectorate in 1910. Kjelsberg was responsible for the welfare of female workers throughout the country. She worked for working women to have a better working day, and was concerned with nutrition, functional clothing, childcare, pension rights and hygiene.

The Factory Inspectorate was established in 1892, and changed its name to the Labor Inspectorate after the Second World War. In the first years, only men worked there. To look after the women, the Storting decided in 1909 to create a separate position for this. Kjelsberg was hired the following year, and to help her, she had four assistants with each district. At this time, the majority of women were in the food industry and in the textile industry. They consistently earned less than men. The worst paid were the cannery workers. In 1914, women earned NOK 0.21, while men earned NOK 0.52 an hour in that part of the industry.

There were major changes in welfare and working life during the years Kjelsberg was a factory inspector. In 1919, an improved version of the Worker Protection Act, later known as the Working Environment Protection Act, was passed and the 8-hour working day law was introduced in Norway. Industrial employees and other workers had a better everyday life.

Betzy Kjelsberg was the country's first female factory inspector in the Norwegian Factory Inspectorate in 1910.

Jomfru Biseth in the weaving industry.

In the museum's industrial exhibition, there is a loom bought for Hjula Væveri in 1859. Most of the employees at the weaving mill were women. One of them was Dorthea Biseth (1819-1887). She was manager of the pattern weavers and manager of the tenement at Maridalsveien 72. Up to 70 of the workers who were employed at Hjula lived there.

Biseth came from a poor background in Hakadal. She worked her way up to become one of the highest paid employees at Hjula. Before she was employed at Hjula in 1855, she was a caretaker at the weaving mill at Tukthuset.

Right from the start, she was one of the highest paid at the weaving mill. She received large annual Christmas bonuses from the factory owner, and he also paid for her medical treatment when she developed gout. Unlike most of her female colleagues, in her capacity as manager, she was mentioned by name in the museum's payroll.