The 'Sulitjelma medal'

In the winter of 1907 the management at the copper and pyrites mines in Sulitjelma in northern Norway tried to introduce a new control system aiming to achieve a larger work intensity. Each worker received a number tag of lead to be worn in a cord around the neck and handed over after each work shift. The enraged workers immediately named the tags “slave tags” and boycotted the system. Ultimately the incident led to the founding of the first workers' union in Sulitjelma.