The Craftivist Campaign That Invited M&S to Make Life-Changing Decisions
In 2015, UK retail giant Marks & Spencer (M&S) wouldn’t budge.
After years of activists pushing for them to adopt a living wage for their employees, the Board – and the CEO in particular – was firmly against any change. A living wage would hurt the bottom line, they said. It would lead to layoffs and less jobs. It wasn’t possible with their current budget.
And so in the lead-up to the annual shareholder meeting, a new tactic was implemented: intimate, relational craftivism.
The major UK-based charity driving the protests, ShareAction, reached out to Sarah Corbett and her Craftivist Collective and asked for help. In response, Sarah created a campaign grounded in soft, relational changework rather than loud, demanding action.
Over the course of five weeks, she organized 24 folks in her network to stitch 24 handkerchiefs – one for each of the Board members, the CEO, the major investment officers, and several celebrity models who had worked with the company. Her hope was that there might be more support on the Board than otherwise thought – and that some of them might influence the CEO toward supporting a living wage.
(This is a real-world example of how the pillars of support can be targeted in a change campaign: Sarah developed this campaign to address the pillars of support – individuals with influence – who might have an impact on the CEO.)
Each handkerchief was carefully crafted and stitched with a message addressed to its individual recipient, including the line “Please don’t blow your opportunity to support life-changing decisions through M&S.” (When paired with serious and intentional action, a little humor goes a long way in activism.)
As the shareholder meeting got closer, craftivists across the UK participated in “stitch-ins” to bring awareness to the protest and 14 folks purchased shares in the company (or were sent as proxy shareholders from ShareAction) so they might speak and gain access to the meeting.
And that’s where the relational magic happened.
Following hours of meeting, which included several craftivists going up to the microphones and asking the Board to support adoption of the living wage, the group of 14 was able to hand-deliver their handkerchiefs and letters to each Board member.
After years of being refused a meeting to discuss the living wage, there was now an opening for a conversation to take place. Faces were put to names, a couple email addresses were exchanged, and each Board member left with a physical, tangible reminder of what the living wage meant to folks. Most importantly: the craftivists secured a follow-up meeting to discuss the issue further.
Now – it’s important to not sugar-coat any of this:
The company then stalled on the meeting for eight months, within which the group of craftivists sent follow-up Christmas cards to each of the handkerchief recipients. When the meeting finally did happen, the head of HR bailed last-minute, aggravating the amount of progress that could be made.
But by mid-2016, a new CEO stepped in (a member of the Board who had received one of the handkerchiefs) and – in a stunning act – wrote letters to each of the craftivists thanking them for their gifts. The Chairman of the Board said at the time that the living wage wouldn’t have still been on their agenda without the craftivist campaign and the energy with which it was carried out.
By April, the company announced they would pay above the living wage for 50,000 of its employees. 🎉
And – after celebrating the huge win – ShareAction kept pushing.
In the ten years since this victory, they have been relentless in their organizing for M&S to go further: to connect the living wage to the cost-of-living so it continues to increase; to commit to paying their third-party contractors (like security guards and cleaners) the living wage.
This craftivist campaign didn’t solve everything, but it did mobilize hundreds of folks to come together for stitch-ins; it emboldened more than two dozen crafters to create and share their work in a scary and brave way; it created an opening that led to real, tangible change.
One of my (many) takeaways from this story:
When we act with kindness and work to create beauty and justice, the world has a way of responding.
How can you share beauty and kindness in a way that might make an impact on decision-makers in your town?
How can you use your skills and passions to build up a culture of care where you are?
What relationships in your area and life can you invest yourself deeper into?
This week, whether or not you consider yourself an artist or maker, I invite you to find a way to make your care visible.
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