Sarah Wesker

Sarah Wesker (1901–1971) was a trade unionist active in the garment industry in the East End of London in the 1920s and 1930s.

Wesker grew up in the Rothschild Buildings, a block of flats in Spitalfields, tenanted mainly by Jewish families.

At Goodman's trouser factory in 1926, where she worked as a machinist, she led the all-female workforce in a walk out demanding a farthing a pair.

[6] Wesker was fluent in English and Yiddish and was known to be a fiery speaker, able to inspire the older women workers in the factories.

[7] The playwright Arnold Wesker was her nephew, and based the character Sarah in his play Chicken Soup with Barley on his aunt.