The Kristiania match workers strike was an

industrial dispute Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

involving female

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

workers at the factories ''Bryn'' and ''Grønvold'' in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1889. The strike started when the wages were suddenly reduced by 20% in October 1889, and involved 372 of the female workers. It ended 13 December the same year. The strike attracted considerable public sympathy, including from

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

and

Oscar Nissen Elias Gottlieb Oscar Egede Nissen (31 October 1843 – 4 January 1911) was a Norwegian physician, newspaper editor and politician. He belonged to the Norwegian Labour Party from 1889 to his death, and was both party leader, party secretary as well ...

. The conflict received country-wide publicity. The strike started spontaneously on 24 October, without any leadership or organizers. The editor of ''

Social-Demokraten :''This is about the Swedish newspaper. For the American newspaper see Social-Demokraten (Chicago newspaper). For the Norwegian newspaper see Dagsavisen.'' ''Social-Demokraten'' ("The Social Democrat") was a Swedish daily Social Democratic newspa ...

'',

Carl Jeppesen Carl Jeppesen (16 March 1858 – 26 January 1930) was a Danish-born Norwegian worker, newspaper editor and politician. He edited the newspaper ''Social-Demokraten'' from 1887 to 1892, and from 1906 to 1912. He was among the founders of the N ...

, and

helped organize a meeting among the workers. The requirements from the workers were 12 hours work-days, a payment of per gross matches, and lightening of a harsh

fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

system. The number of strikers were 266 packers from ''Grønvolds fyrstikkfabrikk'' and 102 from ''Bryn''. Among the outside supporters were the feminist pioneers

Fernanda Nissen Petra Gregorine Fernanda Nissen (née Thomesen; 15 August 1862 – 3 April 1920) was a Norwegian journalist, literary critic, theatre critic, politician and feminist pioneer. Early and personal life Fernanda Thomesen was born in Sannidal, as ...

and

Ragna Nielsen Ragna Vilhelmine Nielsen (née Ullmann) (17 July 1845 – 29 September 1924) was a Norwegian pedagogue, school headmistress, publicist, organizer, politician and feminist. Personal life Ragna Nielsen was born in Christiania (now Oslo) to Jø ...

appeared as speaker at public mass meetings, along with Jeppesen and Oscar Nissen. The strike went on for weeks, while the workers received financial support from fund-raising campaigns. There was, however, little movement in the negotiations between the workers and the factory owners, and the strike was declared terminated 12 December 1889. The strike's only achievement was a somewhat lighter fine system, but the conflict eventually had implications for the emerging labour movement. It was later treated in

Olav Dalgard Olav Dalgard (June 19, 1898 – December 25, 1980) was a Norwegian literary and art historian, filmmaker, author and educator. Biography Dalgard was born Olaf Hanssen in Folldal, in Hedmark, Norway. From the age of three, he was raised at Oppdal ...

's film ''

Gryr i Norden ''Gryr i Norden'' (Dawn in the North) is a Norwegian film from 1939 that was directed by Olav Dalgard. ''Gryr i Norden'' is the last film in the "worker trilogy." The other two films are ''Det drønner gjennom dalen'' (1938) and ''Lenkene brytes'' ...

'' from 1939.

References

{{Reflist 1889 in Norway 1889 labor disputes and strikes Labour disputes in Norway