Miners' Federation of Great Britain
The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in England, Scotland and Wales whose associations remained largely autonomous. At its peak, the federation represented nearly one million workers. It was reorganised into the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945.
Founding conference and membership
In 1888 after colliery owners rejected a call for a pay rise from the
Most of the founding unions were part of the Federated District. This had been created in 1888 and covered Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, the Midland Counties, Lancashire, Cheshire, and North Wales. In these districts, most output was used within the UK and, as a result, variations in international trade had less impact on them.[5] Their unions were opposed to payment of miners on a "sliding scale" based on the selling price of coal, a practice which was standard in South Wales, Northumberland and Durham.[6] In recognition of this status, a single Conciliation Board was created for the Federated District. The Federated District unions often worked together and opposed initiatives of the other MFGB affiliates. In 1918, a majority of the MFGB decided instead to campaign for a single National Wages Board and this led to the break-up of the Federated District. A. R. Griffin claimed that this "...did incalculable harm to the miners of the Midlands without doing any good to anyone else".[6]
The MFGB's membership increased by 30% in its first year and by 1890 its member federations had 250,000 members.[1] The Northumberland Miners' Association and the Durham Miners' Association initially refused to join but did so in 1907 and 1908.[2] Most of the MFGB's founding officials were still in control in 1910[7] by which time the membership was more than 600,000.[8] Membership peaked in 1920 when it had more than 945,000 members. In 1926 the membership dropped to 756,000 and had declined to about 530,000 in 1930.[9]
MFGB member associations | Formed | Joined MFGB [10][11] | Membership in 1910 | Membership in 1944[12] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bristol Miners' Association | 1887 | 1889 | 2,167 | 400 |
Cleveland Miners' and Quarrymen's Association | 1872 | 1892 | 9,743 | N/A |
Cumberland Miners' Association | 1872 | 1890 | 6,326 | 7,500 |
Derbyshire Miners' Association[a] | 1880 | 1889 | 37,428 | 25,000 |
Durham Miners' Association | 1869 | 1908[b] | 121,805 | 106,472 |
Forest of Dean Miners' Association | 1870 | 1889 | 3,000 | N/A |
Kent Miners' Association | 1915 | 1915 | N/A | 5,100 |
Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation | 1881 | 1889 | 57,516 | 40,000 |
Leicestershire Miners' Association | 1887 | 1889 | 5,491 | 4,000 |
Midland Counties Federation of Miners[c] |
1886 | 1889 | 38,005 | 30,000 |
National Federation of Colliery Enginemen |
1872 | 1919 | 10,000[d] | ? |
National Union of Cokemen and By-product Workers | 1916 | 1917 | N/A | 3,000 |
Northumberland Miners' Mutual Confident Association |
1864 | 1907 | 37,361 | 28,561 |
North Wales Miners' Association | 1889 | 1889 | 12,043 | 7,526 |
Nottinghamshire Miners' Association | 1880 | 1889 | 31,352 | 30,000 |
Scottish Miners' Federation[e] |
1894 | 1894 | 67,602 | 51,000 |
Somerset Miners' Association | 1888 | 1889 | 4,310 | 2,600 |
South Derbyshire Amalgamated Miners' Association |
1889 | 1889 | 3,622 | 5,743 |
South Wales Miners' Federation[f] | 1898 | 1899 | 137,553 | 100,000 |
Yorkshire Miners' Association | 1881 | 1889 | 88,271 | 115,000 |
The organisation was renamed the Mineworkers Federation of Great Britain in 1932, reflecting the creation of groups for enginemen, firemen, electricians and other workers in the industry.[13]
Events
The MFGB joined the
The MFGB participated in the 1906
A lockout in 1910 by Cambrian Collieries in
The onset of World War I in 1914 led to calls for the repeal of the eight-hour day and increased productivity. South Wales miners struck in 1915 and increased pay was demanded in 1916 resulting in the coalfields being put into state control.[17] In 1914 the MFGB had joined with the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the National Transport Workers' Federation (NTWF) in the Triple Alliance.[18] In 1919 the Sankey Commission was set up to which the MFGB, colliery owners and government considered the future of the mining industry and two years later the government returned management of the collieries to their owners.[17] In 1921 a decision by the NUR and NTWF not to strike in sympathy with the miners is remembered as Black Friday and signalled the end of the alliance.[18]
Pressure for wage cuts in 1925 plunged the MFGB into crisis. The government-backed the colliery owners and the TUC backed the miners. The government proposed setting up a commission and provided a subsidy to maintain wages at the July 1925 level.
After the strike, the federation had lost public sympathy and the economic slump that followed affected miners' wages and working conditions. The MFGB's membership declined and by 1931 unemployment on the coalfields reached more than 40% and wages were poor for working miners.[22] Hunger marches in the 1930s highlighted the plight of mining communities. A disaster at Gresford Colliery demonstrated poor working conditions and breaches in the law by employers. A Royal Commission into mines' safety was started after the 1934 disaster but no new law was passed until the Mines and Quarries Act 1954.[23] Fatalities in the mines had fallen in the years before 1926 but coal industry deaths rose to the 1900 level after the strike.[24]
A ballot for a national strike in 1935 produced the largest majority vote in favour of industrial action. Wages in Nottinghamshire, where the breakaway "Spencer" union-represented 80% of the workforce, were the lowest in the country. Men who remained loyal to the MFGB were victimised and colliery owners refused to recognise the federation.[24] Matters came to a head at Harworth Colliery in 1936. MFGB members demanding recognition struck for six months. Several officials and members were imprisoned and the breakaway union became even more isolated. The MFGB balloted its members about merging with the "Spencer" union but the proposal was rejected. The federation's leadership continued to negotiate until 1937 when the breakaway union returned to the MFGB but amid much bad feeling.[25]
Support for the mining industry to be nationalised grew between the wars and during World War II. At the onset of war, the MFGB and government discussed how best to ensure a supply of coal for the war effort. The miners' position was that they wanted the industry to be nationalised at the end of hostilities.[26] It pressured the Labour Party into readmitting Aneurin Bevan, who had been expelled for advocating a "popular front" with the far-left against the National Government.[27] In 1941 an Essential Work Order was imposed on the mines.[28] In 1942 proposals to merge all districts and local associations into a single miners' union were drafted. After the Labour government was elected in the 1945 general election, the passing of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 meant all the industry's assets, rights and liabilities passed to the National Coal Board and the MFGB was reorganised into a single union, the National Union of Mineworkers.[26]
Political affiliation
The miners' unions were the largest and most powerful industrial combinations in Britain for decades and exercised a great influence on the rest of the British labour movement. The first working-class
The
In the early 1900s, many affiliates were frustrated with the Liberal Party's reluctance to adopt trade union candidates or take up trade union matters in Parliament. In 1906, the MFGB held a national ballot on whether to affiliate to the LRC. The proposal was defeated by 101,714 votes to 92,222. South Wales, Scotland, Yorkshire and Lancashire, the largest affiliates, were in favour of joining, but most smaller affiliates were strongly opposed. After the close vote, the transformation of the LRC into the Labour Party and newly affiliated unions from Durham and Northumberland to the MFGB, a second ballot was held in 1908. While the pattern of voting was similar, increased membership of the largest affiliates and stronger support among them, led to the earlier decision being overturned by 213,137 votes to 168,446.[29]
On affiliation to Labour, MPs sponsored by member unions were asked to join the Labour Party group in parliament. Many did, but a small number negotiated an exemption and remained Lib-Labs until 1918
The
Officers of the federation
Year | President | Vice president | General Secretary | Treasurer |
---|---|---|---|---|
1889 | Ben Pickard[2]
|
Sam Woods[2] | Thomas Ashton[2] | Enoch Edwards[2] |
1904 | Enoch Edwards[33] | William Abraham[33] | ||
1909 | Robert Smillie[33] | |||
1912 | Robert Smillie[33] | W. E. Harvey[33]
| ||
1914 | William House[33] | |||
1917 | Herbert Smith[33] | |||
1918 | James Robson[33] | |||
1919 | Frank Hodges[33] | |||
1922 | Herbert Smith[33] | Stephen Walsh[33]
| ||
1924 | Thomas Richards | A. J. Cook[33] | W. P. Richardson[33]
| |
1929 | Thomas Richards[33] | Ebby Edwards[33] | ||
1930 | Position in abeyance[33] | |||
1931 | Ebby Edwards | Peter Lee
| ||
1932 | Peter Lee
|
Joseph Jones | Ebby Edwards | |
1933 | S. O. Davies | |||
1934 | Joseph Jones | Will Lawther | ||
1939 | Will Lawther | Jim Bowman
|
See also
References
Notes
- ^ The Derbyshire Miners' Association was not represented at the founding conference, but affiliated before the conference early in 1890.
- ^ The Durham Miners' Association joined in 1892, but was expelled in 1893 and not readmitted until 1908.
- ^ The Warwickshire Miners' Association held separate membership from 1889 until it joined the Midland Counties Federation.
- ^ Membership figure for 1913.
- Stirlingshire Miners' County Union was not represented at the founding conference, but affiliated before the conference early in 1890. The Fife and Kinross Miners' Association joined in about 1892, and the Blantyre Miners and Larkhall Miners joined in 1893, shortly before they became part of the Lanarkshire Miners' County Union.
- ^ Several founding sections of the South Wales Miners' Federation already held membership of the MFGB. The Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Association joined in 1889, while the Rhondda Miners and the Neath and Swansea Miners joined in about 1892.
Citations
- ^ a b c National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e f National Union of Mineworkers, spartacus-educational.com, retrieved 30 September 2014
- ^ History of the NUM Baptism by Fire, num.org, archived from the original on 30 August 2016, retrieved 4 October 2014
- ^ "Miners' National Conference at Newport. Formation of a Miners' Federation". Leeds Mercury. British Newspaper Archive. 27 November 1889. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
- ^ Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.II, pp.27-31
- ^ a b A. R. Griffin, Mining in the East Midlands 1550-1947, pp.223-225
- ^ Page Arnot 1953, p. 19.
- ^ a b National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 15.
- ^ Page Arnot 1953, p. 545.
- ProQuest 482851707.
- The Manchester Guardian. 27 November 1889. Retrieved 6 April 2016 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Marsh & Ryan 1984, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Marsh & Ryan 1984, pp. 195, 229–230.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 8.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 16.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 17.
- ^ a b National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 27.
- ^ a b Black Friday and the TUC, The National Archives, retrieved 1 October 2014
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 45.
- ^ a b National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 46.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 53.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 55.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 57.
- ^ a b National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 59.
- ^ National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 60.
- ^ a b National Union of Mineworkers 1989, p. 67.
- ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.
- ^ Labour shortage and the end of war, National Archives, retrieved 7 October 2014
- ^ ISBN 0719017912.
- ^ Taylor, Andrew (2009). "Deadweight or bedrock? The mineworkers and Labour". The Foundations of the British Labour Party: 57–76.
- ISBN 0521554608.
- ^ Thorpe 1997, p. 92-93.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Page Arnot 1953, p. 546.
Bibliography
- National Union of Mineworkers (1989), A Century of Struggle Britain's Miners in Pictures 1889-1989, National Union of Mineworkers, ISBN 0-901959 06 5
- Page Arnot, Robin (1953), The Miners: A history of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain from 1910 onwards, George Allen and Unwin
- Marsh, Arthur; Ryan, Victoria (1984), Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.2, Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 978-0566021619
- Thorpe, Andrew (1997). A History of the British Labour Party. London: Macmillan Education UK. ISBN 978-0-333-56081-5.