matchgirls

Matchgirls were young women and girls who worked in match factories during the 19th and early 20th centuries, typically in dangerous conditions involving phosphorus that caused severe health problems including "phossy jaw," a disfiguring bone disease.

The term is most associated with the London matchgirls' strike of 1888, when workers at the Bryant and May factory walked out to protest low wages and unsafe conditions, becoming an important moment in British labor history.