[1] The strike began in August 1871 when the engineers in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, and adjoining areas of Tyneside, formally requested that their "masters" (employers) place limits on working hours.
[2] Rather than relying on union strength, a temporary "Nine Hours League" was formed, led by John Burnett, a member of the ASE District Committee.
Though the strike participants were largely uneducated, those who had learned to read and write—such as John Brown, grandfather to anarcho-syndicalist engineer Tom Brown—contacted local newspapers and began publications of their own, which circulated widely across Great Britain.
[3] Matthew Dryden, a Tyneside songwriter, wrote the "Perseveer"[4] or "The Nine Oors Movement" (written in the Geordie dialect and sung to the tune of "Nelly Ray"), staging concerts to raise funds for the strikers.
[3] At the conclusion of the strike, the engineering firms agreed to a shorter 54-hour work week consisting of six nine-hour days.