Workers Collection

Ben Rubner, General Secretary of the FTAT union
Ben Rubner (1921-1998), General Secretary of the Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union (FTAT) from 1976 to 1986. He also campaigned against the Vietnam War

China - Cultural Revolution Poster - Chairman Mao
The Many accomplish great things - Cultural Revolution poster from the Peoples Republic of China, featuring happy workers heading out to work, many holding aloft the Little Red Book

The Workers May-Pole, design for a socialist poster
The Workers May-Pole, a design for a socialist poster, with a central allegorical figure, and banners and ribbons labelled with abstract ideas such as Leisure, Solidarity and Humanity. Date: 1894

Soviet propaganda poster by boris parmeev (parmeyev) called under the sun of the motherland we strengthen, ussr, 1970s

Miners working at the coalface, South Wales
Two miners, stripped to the waist, working at the coalface in a coal seam in South Wales

Coal miners in shaft lift, South Wales
Several coal miners with blackened faces stand in the shaft lift at the end of their shift in a coal mine in South Wales

Miner at Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall
Miner at work with a drill underground (below the sea) in Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall, which was just about to cease operation. Date: circa 1986

North East Coast Exhibition, LNER poster, 1929
Poster produced for the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) to promote rail services to the North East Coast Exhibition, held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne between May and October in 1929

Building Diesel Locomotives in Swindon
Engineers nearing completion on the first of 35 2, 700 hp diesel-hydraulic locomotives built at the Swindon Works for the Western Region

PELLIZZA DA VOLPEDO, Giuseppe (1868-1901). The

Millet Gleaners
Glaneurs gleaning the corn field after the crop has been stored

A China Clay Pit, Leswidden, Harold Harvey (1874-1941)
Oil on canvas, Newlyn School, 1920 or 1924. This painting shows the harsh, labour-intensive working conditions of a china clay pit

Scene of devastation after flying bomb attack, WW2
A panoramic daytime scene of devastation following a flying bomb attack in London during the latter stages of the Second World War. Rescue workers look for buried casualties

Derrick Floor of an oil rig, Iran
Derrick Floor of an oil drilling rig, Iran

The Harvesters, 1565. Creator: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The Harvesters, 1565

The Clay Pit, Harold Harvey (1874-1941)
Oil on canvas, Newlyn School, 1923. View of Leswidden China Clay Works near St Just. This painting shows the harsh, labour-intensive working conditions of a china clay pit

Dolcoath Mine, Camborne, Cornwall. 1831
Engraving " Dolcoath Copper Mine" of 1831 from Cornwall Illustrated showing the 76" engine house with capstan alongside, together with a launder and bal maidens

Blacksmiths outside their forge
A superb photograph of six Blacksmiths and coachbuilders posing for a photograph outside their forge/workshop, each holding the tools of their trade

The Lutine Bell in the Underwriting Room at Lloyds of London, 1933, (1935). Creator: Unknown
The Lutine Bell in the Underwriting Room at Lloyds of London, 1933, (1935). The SS L Atlantique was insured by Lloyds for almost £ 1, 000, 000

Polkanuggo Quarry, Stithians, Cornwall. 1903-1904
A general view of Polkanuggo Quarry with steam traction engine BETA No 483 and workers posing for the camera. The traction engine was made around June 1885 by John Fowler of Leeds

Death to World Imperialism, poster, 1919. Artist: Dmitriy Stakhievich Moor
Death to World Imperialism, poster, 1919. Found in the collection of the Russian State Library, Moscow

Two miners in a narrow coal seam, South Wales
Two miners, one of them quite young, working in a narrow coal seam in a mine in South Wales

Employees - Ford Motor Company, Detroit, Michigan, USA
The 36, 000 Employees of the Ford Motor Company, Detroit, Michigan, USA pose for a group photograph in front of the factory buildings

Mixing treated asbestos fibre, Heath Robinson machine
Efficient plant for the successful mixing of treated asbestos fibre with cement. A drawing done by William Heath Robinson for Turners Asbestos Cement Co

Patent double action grinder for asbestos by Heath Robinson
A patent double-action grinder for mashing asbestos fibre - a drawing done for Turners Asbestos Cement Co by William Heath Robinson, renowned for his machines and convoluted contraptions. Date: c.1925

Bryant and May Match Factory
Girls feeding a machine at the Bryant & May match factory, in Bow, East London, at the time a tax on matches was being discussed in the budget. Date: 1916

Blitz in London -- ambulance at Ladywell, Lewisham, WW2
Blitz in London -- an ambulance and rescue workers in the Ladywell area of Lewisham, SE13, where houses were demolished by a parachute bomb, 18 September 1940

England, Tyne and Wear, Angel of the North. The Angel of the North statue near the cities of Gateshead and Newcastle Upon Tyne

Coal miner filling truck, South Wales mine
A coal miner (Billy Hurland) filling a dram (coal truck) at Baldwins Level (nicknamed Clog and Legging) in a coalmine near Pontypool in South Wales

Miner riding drams, Tirpentwys Colliery, South Wales
A miner riding a journey of drams (coal trucks) at Tirpentwys Colliery near Pontypool in South Wales. Date: 1910

1888 Matchgirl Strike
Some of the 1400 strikers at the Bryant & May match factory, the first strike by unorganised workers to gain national publicity

A Garland For May Day 1895 Dedicated To The Workers By Walter Crane 1845 1915 English Artist

Pednandrea stamps and mine dressing floor at Wheal Sparnon, Redruth, Cornwall. 1865
The area in the photograph is now covered by Clinton Road, Park Road and Albany Road, Redruth. According to the Ordnance Survey Six Inch map Cornwall LXIII

Female ICI employees enjoy a dance, South Yorkshire, 1957. Artist: Michael Walters
Female ICI employees enjoy a dance, South Yorkshire, 1957. A couple of girls from the ICI Detonator factory in Denaby Main (near Doncaster)

Surface Workers, Dolcoath Mine, Camborne, Cornwall. 1890s
Dolcoath Mine showing the New East shaft on the right, with bal maidens and overseer. Part of the A.K. Hamilton Jenkin collection. Photographer: Unknown

WW2 poster, Don t be fuel-ish
WW2 poster, The worker who left the lights on -- Don t be fuel-ish. Wasted electricity means less fuel to make the weapons we need for victory

Manufacture of cork balls at Chingford General view of the house 28 November 1922

Workers are unloading sacks of flour from a Bedford truck belonging to Pledge & Son Ltd, the milling company, on one of their deliveries in Ashford, Kent. 1939

The barge haulers, the volga boatmen, or, in russian, burlaki, a painting by ilya repin from the early 1870s

Cyclops Works, Sheffield BL22301_010
Cammell Lairds Cyclops Ordnance Steel Tyre and Spring Works in Grimesthorpe, Sheffield. Men at work in the fettling shop, with huge components for ships

Steel production, Barnsley BL22301_002
Cammell Laird & Co, Penistone. Men at work in Cammell Lairds bessemer department, producing steel from pig iron. One of a series of photographs of Cammell Laird works. Bedford Lemere. August 1913

Patrolling the permanent way, Manningtree, Essex, May 1948
A ganger patrolling the permanent way, Manningtree, Essex, May 1948. Maintanence of the permanent way was essential for the safe running of the railway

NFS (London Region) Pimlico V1 bombing attack, WW2
The aftermath of a V1 flying bomb attack in Winchester Street, Pimlico. NFS firefighters join other rescue workers at the scene

Bass Brewery workers
Workers at the Middle Yard of the Bass Brewery, Burton-on-Trent Date: 1908

Trades union membership certificate
A trades union membership certificate for the United Operative Plumbers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, with Defence and Defiance as their motto

Coal miners relaxing after a shift. This is a coal mine in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photographed in May 1987 when Ukraine was still part of the USSR

Picking coal from waste tip during 1921 strike, South Wales
Three men picking coal from a local colliery waste tip during the 1921 strike, South Wales

Man at work, Dinorwig Slate Quarry, North Wales
A man at work, 150 feet up on the main face of Dinorwig (or Dinorwic) Slate Quarry, near Llanberis, North Wales

Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey - Large fig factory
The scale of the fig industry at Izmir is demonstrated in this postcard showing a huge warehouse with a multitude of baskets and workers

Overtime at a Christmas cracker factory by William Heath Rob
Colour illustration by William Heath Robinson depicting one of his usual contraptions designed to solve the increase in demand for Christmas crackers during the forthcoming festive season

PELLIZZA DA VOLPEDO, Giuseppe (1868-1901). The Fourth Estate. 1901. Central detail. Naturalism. Oil on canvas. ITALY. Milan. Pinacotheca of Brera

1966 Lotus Europa Series 1 prototype in factory. Creator: Unknown
1966 Lotus Europa Series 1 prototype in factory

Las Hilanderas, (The Spinners), 1657, (c1934). Artist: Diego Velasquez
Las Hilanderas, (The Spinners), 1657, (c1934). Traditionally, believed to depict women workers in the tapestry workshop of Santa Isabel, iconography suggests Ovids Fable of Arachne

Tincroft Mine, Illogan, Cornwall. Late 1800s
Miners and bal maidens posed in front of surface buildings. Part of the A.K. Hamilton Jenkin collection. Photographer: Unknown

Old Carnon Valley viaduct showing early stage of replacement, Perranwell, Cornwall. Around 1931-1932
A general view of Brunels old Carnon Viaduct showing the early stages of construction of the new replacement pillars, with some of the workforce in the background

Mill Workers - Spinning - Rochdale, Lancashire. Date: 1911

Four-horse Ploughing team at work - South Downs, East Sussex
Sons of the soil - A four-horse Ploughing team at work in on the South Downs - East Sussex. Date: circa 1920s

Shipyard Workers crossing Queens Bridge (Study for Men of the Home Front ). Conor, William 1881-1968

Waiters, chefs and kitchen hands at Londons Savoy hotel went on strike early today, it was decided that tables were to be left bare and underserviced in the private suites, restaurant and Grill room

Building work on the widening of the Swanley Bridge in Kent. 1938

Saltaire, model textile factory and town near Bradford, Yorkshire, England. Founded by Titus Salt (1803-1776) in 1851. Shops, library, etc

Oil well, 19th century
Oil well. Crude oil erupting from a wellhead in a 19th-century oil field. The wellhead is the structure used to contain and pump oil as it reaches the surface from deep underground, often, as here

General view of Dinorwig Slate Quarry, North Wales
A general view of Dinorwig (or Dinorwic) Slate Quarry, near Llanberis, North Wales, soon to be changed for ever with the construction of a new dam

Haulier and assistant, Baldwins Level, South Wales
A haulier and his assistant, with a pit pony pulling a truck, at Baldwins Clog and Legging Level, near Pontypool, South Wales

Miners at the pit bottom, Tirpentwys Colliery, South Wales
A group of miners at the pit bottom of Tirpentwys Colliery, near Pontypool in South Wales

Women of Britain - World War Two poster
World War Two poster encouraging the women of Britain to answer the call and go and work in the munitions factories

Female munitions workers. By Fortunio Matania
As it became clear there would be no decisive swift victory for either side in World War I, the constant demand for munitions increased

Bournville / Village 1905
Bournville Village, Birmingham: homes for Cadburys workers

Factory Workers 1930S
Factory workers leaving the engineering and ship repairing factories of R. & H. Green and Silley Weir Ltd

Ford Assembly Line 1929
Working on the Ford assembly line

A nuclear submarine berthing at Devonport docks, Plymouth, Devon, 1980. The site has been established as a naval construction and refit yard since 1690

Cotton Dye Works
Empire Marketing Board 1927-1933 poster, Cotton Dye Works Date: 1927-1933

A womens war workers football match in London, 1917
The team of munitions night workers taking the field for a football match against the day shift women, in the London district. Date: 1917

19th-century tin mine, Cornwall. Artwork of miners and walkways at the Botallack Copper and Tin Mine at St Just, Cornwall, England. This mine, under various names, dates back to 1721

Men at Brixham Harbour
Four men chatting by the quayside railing at Brixham Harbour, Devon

Miner working in a coal seam, South Wales
A miner, stripped to the waist, with a pick resting across his shoulder and a lamp in his hand, in a coal seam in South Wales

Main Office Entrance, Port Sunlight. Port Sunlight is a garden village which was founded in 1888 by Lever to house his soap factory workers

Poynton and Worth colliers library and reading room. Established on the estate of Lord Vernon in Poynton, the library operated on a subsidised subscription basis

The Post Office and Library, Greendale Road, Port Sunlight. Date: circa 1910

Winching men up from the coalface - Wales. Note the Davy lamp hanging off the belt of the man in the centre. Date: circa 1910s

Hop Kilns removing dried hops from the kilns in Goudhurst. ( A general view ) 1937

Cleaning out roadside drainage ditches which had become overgrown using JCB digger, England, February

Domestic Sheep, Dalesbred, flock, with shepherd leading on snow covered moorland, near Pen-y-ghent, Yorkshire Dales N.P. North Yorkshire, England, January

Chouwara traditional leather tannery in Old Fez, vats for tanning and dyeing leather hides and skins, Fez, Morocco, North Africa, Africa

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"Workers: The Backbone of Nations, United by Labor" From the bustling streets of China during the Cultural Revolution to the coal miners in South Wales and Cornwall, they have always played a vital role in shaping societies. In Chairman Mao's China, a powerful cultural revolution poster depicted workers as heroes, inspiring unity and progress. Meanwhile, deep underground in shaft lifts and at Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen and South Wales coal mines, brave miners risked their lives daily to fuel industrial growth. The Workers May-Pole design showcased solidarity among laborers striving for socialist ideals. In 1910 Britain, even political parties recognized the importance with colorful posters appealing for support. Swindon witnessed the dedication of builders constructing diesel locomotives while LNER promoted North East Coast Exhibition through an artistic poster celebrating hardworking individuals. Artists like Harold Harvey captured scenes from clay pits in Cornwall - be it Polkanuggo Quarry or Leswidden - highlighting arduous work that sustained local economies. Soviet propaganda also exalted workers' contributions under the sun of the motherland. Boris Parmeev's iconic poster from 1970s USSR symbolized strength gained through collective effort. Across continents and eras, these glimpses into worker's lives remind us that they are not just cogs within a system but essential pillars upon which nations stand tall. Their unwavering determination fuels progress and shapes our shared future.