DONALDA CHARRON and Les Allumettières

A hundred years on, we celebrate the heroism of Donalda Charron who in 1924 led the matchgirls (les allumettières) strike at the E. B. Eddy match factory in Hull, Quebec, Canada.

Donalda Charron in 1912, at the age of 25

Similarities with Sarah Chapman and the 1888 Matchgirls Strike at the Bryant & May factory in Bow abound.

Born in 1886 in Hull (now Gatineau), Canada, Donalda Charron’s father, Jérémie, was a wagon driver. Her mother, Amélia died aged 31, when Donalda was only 9 years old. Obligated to enter the workplace early, Donalda initially worked in a mining company separating sheets of mica before joining E. B. Eddy in 1912 at the age of 26.

Conditions in the factory were dire. White phosphorus - responsible for the debilitating bone disease, “Phossy Jaw” - was still being used in the factory until its ban in 1914. Les allumettières, as the predominantly female workforce were known, were expected to toil long hours for meagre wages, suffering gender discrimination, unsafe work practices and the use of child labour.

Donalda rose through the ranks to become “contremaîtresse” or forewoman.

1918 was a turning point. A number of women, including Donalda, joined a newly created women’s section of the Hull Workers Association (the “Syndicat Catholique des Allumettières de Hull”) whose aim was to improve worker rights.

The first strike at the E. B. Eddy factory, in 1919, was prompted (amongst a host of other grievances) by management’s insistence on the women working double shifts to meet demand. The strike was successful, ending with a 50% salary increase and furloughs, together with union recognition.

Shortly after, Donalda was elected President, achieving the accolade of being the first woman to head a union in Canada.

By 1924, E. B. Eddy’s management had reneged on all of its 1919 commitments. In July of that year, Donalda and her fellow allumettières downed tools once again. The strike lasted 9 weeks. Prevented from negotiating directly with management (the union was catholic and male dominated), Donalda who was nicknamed “gendarme du syndicat” (union policeman) organised pickets in front of the locked-out factory, raised money, and held meetings with the union negotiator, Father Bonhomme.

Les allumettières in front of the E. B. Eddy factory in 1924.

Supported by the Hull local community and newspapers such as Le Droit, the strike was successful. Management was forced into meeting their previous concessions, but with one major caveat: Donalda was not re-hired!

A group of allumettières on strike in front of the Le Droit offices in 1924. The E.B. Eddy lockout hit the headlines for several weeks in the newspaper Le Droit.

The hands of fate have not always been kind to the deserving. Years earlier (in 1912) she had lost a leg below the knee, slipping whilst stepping from a train pulling in at a platform. After the strike, the union offered Donalda a job at head office, although office work did not appeal to her. She became a laundress in a hospital and then a seamstress in a textile factory where - aged 60 - she led another strike for union recognition.

Donalda Charron died in 1967 (aged 80) alone and largely forgotten in a Gatineau care centre. A century after the strike that she helped to precipitate we honour the memory of this courageous and determined woman who was a champion of worker rights and gender equality.

Paul Haston is an author. His children’s book, Billy and the Match Girl is about the 1888 Matchgirls Strike in Bow, London. Available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Billy-Match-Girl-Paul-Haston/dp/1080419896/