Alex Moffat (trade unionist)
Alexander B. Moffat (1904 – 6 September 1967) was a Scottish
Early life
Born into a Plymouth Brethren family in Lumphinnans in Fife, Moffat left school at the age of fourteen to work at the local coal mine.[1] His family had a long association with the trade union movement; his grandfather, David Moffat, had been the secretary of the Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association, until victimisation by employers forced him to move his family to Lumphinnans to find work.[2] Moffat was elected as pit delegate after only four years at the mine, the youngest ever pit delegate in Scotland.[3]
1920s and 1930s
He worked with his brothers, David and
Thereafter, Moffat devoted much of his time to the
David and Alex Moffat, born seven years apart, were more than just brothers. They were brothers-in-arms, and usually biographies tend to combine them. Being born in Lumphinnans – one of several pit towns dominated at the time by the Communist Party and even called "Little Moscow" by some – they were almost destined to be mine unionists and communists. Their family had a long tradition of involvement in mining trade unionism; their grandfather had been a pioneer of the trade union in the Lothians in the 1860s, but was forced to move to Fife due to victimisation.[14]
Working in the pits for 16 years, Abe Moffat was victimised perennially. He actively supported miners' strike actions. After joining the Communist Party in 1922, he helped publish the `Buzzer', a newsletter for militant miners at Glencraig Colliery, Lochgelly. He joined the party and was elected as a Communist councillor to Ballingry Parish Council.[14]
World War II and after
During
He and his brother, Abe Moffat, were central to the miners' struggle for economic rights. "The name Moffat was to become legend throughout the Fife, then Scottish, and ultimately the British mining industry. The Moffat brothers were reported to be in the thick of every struggle to defend and improve the conditions of the miners and their families."[3]
In 1953, he was the organizer of the Scottish Miners Gala Day in Edinburgh, sponsored by the National Union of Mineworkers. The festival, among other things, protested government labour policy. It included the presence of the Scottish Miners Youth contingent, a rally and procession, a pipe band and competitions. This was the subject of a film directed by P. James Dickson that is in the Scottish archives.[16]
In 1959 he and John Wood testified concerning the 18 September,
In 1957, Moffat was elected as vice-president of the union.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-333-96873-4.
- Robin Page Arnot, A History of the Scottish Miners, p. 66
- ^ a b "Brothers from Lumphinanns were powerful figures". Central Times Fife & Advertiser. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Obituary: Mr Alex Moffat". The Guardian. London. 7 September 1967. p. 7.
- ^ Linehan 2007, p. 98.
- ^ ISBN 0-904919-50-1.
- ^ Linehan 2007, p. 13.
- ^ "Mr Abe Moffat". The Times. London. 29 March 1975. p. 14.
- ^ "No title". Scottish TUC Bulletin. No. 330. Scottish Trades Union Congress. March 1959. p. 1.
- Page Arnot, Robin. A History of the Scottish Miners. London: George Allen and Unwin. p. 420.
- ISBN 0-7546-6683-2.
- ^ McIlroy, John; Campbell, Alan (April 2003). "Forging the Faithful: The British at the International Lenin School". Labour History Review. 68 (1). Liverpool University Press: 103.
- ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- ^ a b Stephenson, Graham. "Moffat Abe, Alex and Dave" (PDF). A Compendium of Communist Biographies. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
Sources: Abe Moffat `My life with the miners' (1965) and other material
- JSTOR 40403605.
- Scottish National Library. 1953. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ^ "Bibliography: Brief summary of the proceedings of the court of inquiry – Alex Moffat and John Wood". Heroes of Mine. National Union of Mineworkers. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Tuckett 1986, p. 429.
- ^ Moffat 1965, p. 297.
- ^ Moffat 1965, p. 289.
- ^ "Alex Eadie". The Daily Telegraph. London. 26 January 2012.
Sources
- Linehan, Thomas (2007). Communism in Britain, 1920–39: From the Cradle to the Grave. Manchester New York New York: ISBN 978-0-7190-7141-6.
- ASIN B0000CMFR1.
- Tuckett, Angela (1986). The Scottish Trades Union Congress: the first 80 years, 1897–1977 (1st ed.). City: Mainstream Publishing in conjunction with the Scottish Trades Union Congress. p. 429. ISBN 978-1851580231.