Description:A bootmakers' strike gathering, standing outside Christ Church School on Northesk Street. This photograph is believed to have been taken on the occasion of a meeting of striking boot and shoe operatives and union representatives at Christ Church School in September 1915.
On Monday 6 September eight junior girls working in the closing department at Edwin Bostock & Co. Ltd.'s factory in Stone were offered work at a reduced rate. They refused, and when the foreman told them to go home, the other women walked out, shortly followed by the men. The dispute affected over 300 workers. The following day a meeting was held at Christ Church Schools when the workers were addressed by Mr Henry Simmons, Executive Council member of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives, and Mr R. Glover, the local secretary.
The same day, Mr Simmons met with Bostock's representatives in Stafford and after further negotiations it was agreed that 7 of the 8 girls would be reinstated, and all women workers would have better rates of pay. The eighth girl was offered work in Stafford. The dispute had ended by 7 October and the Stone factory was back in production.