In the gardens named in her honor stands a statue of Mary Macarthur, the Scottish suffragist and trades unionist who led women chain-makers on strike to raise the minimum wage in Cradley Heath. Mary Macarthur (1880-1921) was born in Glasgow. She was Glasgow Girls’ High School newspaper editor and aspired to become a writer. In her early 20s, as a reporter for a local newspaper in Ayr, she attended a Shop Assistants’ Union meeting. Impressed by their values, she joined the union.  Within a year, she got elected as the Union president in Scotland and became the first female representative on the Union’s National Executive. The following year, she moved to London and was appointed Secretary of the Women’s Trade Union League. At 26, Macarthur founded the National Federation of Women Workers, Britain’s Anti-Sweating League, and a newspaper for women trade unionists called Women Worker. Over the next couple of years, she researched the financial conditions of sweated homeworking women. Her research conclusions led to the formation of the Trade Board Act of 1909, which set minimum wages in several trades. In 1910, Macarthur led 800 women chain-makers of Cradley Heath on strike to establish their right to a fair wage. It lasted ten weeks until the last employer agreed to pay the minimum wage. This victory was a milestone that changed the course of history and the lives of thousands of workers who previously had earned ‘starvation wages.’ Following her success, the social reformer Ada Salter invited her to organize the Bermondsey Uprising. There, Macarthur recruited the women strikers and led the negotiations with the employers. She continued to work with the Women’s Trade Union League and helped its transformation into the Women’s section of the Trade Union Congress. She died of cancer at the age of 40. The 3-meter Steel statue of Mary Macarthur statue, titled The Lady Chainmaker, was commissioned by Sandwell Council and the Friends of Mary Macarthur Gardens, which chose local artist Luke Perry for the job. The statue, unveiled on June 9th, 2012, depicts Macarthur holding her baby in her left hand and a hammer in her right, looking upwards toward a better future. Seven life-sized figures of protesting women stand behind her. More sites worth a visit in Cradley Heath are the Haden Hill House Museum and Old Hall, the Corngreaves Nature Reserve, and the statue of the renowned jumper Joseph Darby. Read more...