National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)

NUM

Full name	National Union of Mineworkers
Founded	1945
Country	United Kingdom
Affiliation	TUC, Labour Party[1]
Key people	Chris Kitchen, secretary Ian Lavery, president
Office location	Barnsley, UK
Website	www.num.org.uk

The National Union of Mineworkers is a trade union for coal miners in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1945 as a reorganisation of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). For much of the 20th century the NUM was a powerful force not only in the British union movement, but also in British politics. The NUM took part in three national miners' strikes in 1972, 1974 and 1984-85. Its influence was destroyed by the failure of the 1984-85 strike and by the closing of most of Britain's coal mines, and it is now a small union with little political power.

Origins

The Miners' Federation of Great Britain was established in Newport, Monmouthshire in 1888 but did not function as a unified, centralised trade union. Instead the federation represented and co-ordinated the affairs of the existing local and regional miners' unions whose associations remained largely autonomous. The South Wales Miners' Federation was founded in 1898, joining the MFGB in 1899, while the Northumberland Miners' Federation joined in 1907, followed by the Durham Miners' Federation in 1908. Th federation's total membership in 1908 was 600,000.

The MFGB was involved in many trade disputes, including the National Miners' Strike of 1912 and the General Strike in 1926.

Post 1945

In January 1945 the MFGB was superseded by the National Union of Mineworkers. Within that organisation, each coalfield continued to exercise a degree of autonomy, having its own District Association, President, General Secretary, and headquarters. Originally, a national strike required a two-thirds majority in a ballot of members. This proved near impossible to achieve and the majority was reduced to 55% in 1970 and then to 50% in 1984. Additionally, regions of the union could call their own strikes. Different areas varied greatly as to how militant they were and it was not uncommon for animosity to exist between areas.

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 Members of Parliament, Thomas Burt and Alexander Macdonald, elected in 1874, represented mining constituencies and were funded by miners' associations. Miners' unions continued to enlarge labour representation in the House of Commons in the years which followed, although they took little part in the founding of the Labour Party. Many miners' MPs sat with the Liberals and the MFGB did not affiliate to the Labour Party until 1909.

Landmark events

• National Miners' Strike, 1912
• Formation of the Triple Alliance, 1914
• Strikes in South Wales, 1915
• Black Friday, 1921
• The General Strike, 1926
• Great Depression in the United Kingdom 1930s
• Second World War
• Coal miners' strike, 1972–73
• The Miners' strike, 1984–85

The Miners' Strike, 1984-85

Main article: UK miners' strike (1984-1985)

In 1984, under the leadership of Arthur Scargill the NUM went on strike in response to the decision by the National Coal Board to close twenty uneconomic pits. The strike lasted a full year, and was marked by violent clashes between police and miners^{[citation needed]}. The strike was unsuccessful and its failure was an era-defining moment in British politics. After the strike large numbers of mines were closed.

The effectiveness of the strike was reduced because the miner's leaders refused to ballot members on strike action. This was illegal under a new law, designed to outlaw decisions based on a show of hands, and replace them by secret ballot. The leadership presented this as an attack on its right to conduct its own internal affairs. This reduced public support for the strike and made it possible for the government to use legal and police powers against the union without political consequences.

Officers

Presidents

• 1889: Ben Pickard
• 1904: Enoch Edwards
• 1912: Robert Smillie
• 1922: Herbert Smith
• 1929: Thomas Richards
• 1931: Ebby Edwards
• 1932: Peter Lee
• 1934: Joseph Jones
• 1939: Will Lawther
• 1954: Ernest Jones
• 1960: Alwin Machen
• 1960: Sidney Ford
• 1971: Joe Gormley
• 1982: Arthur Scargill (Honorary President from 2002)
• 2002: Ian Lavery

Vice Presidents

• 1889: Sam Woods
• 1909: Robert Smillie
• 1912: W. E. Harvey
• 1914: William House
• 1917: Herbert Smith
• 1922: Stephen Walsh
• 1924: Thomas Richards
• 1929: Ebby Edwards
• 1931: Peter Lee
• 1932: Joseph Jones
• 1933: S. O. Davies
• 1934: Will Lawther
• 1939: Jim Bowman
• 1950: Ernest Jones
• 1950: Edward Jones
• 1960: Fred Collindridge
• 1962: Sid Schofield
• 1972: Mick McGahey
• 1987: Sammy Thompson
• 1989: Vacant
• 1992: Frank Cave
• 2002: Keith Stanley
• 2010: Nicky Wilson

General Secretaries

• 1889: Thomas Ashton
• 1919: Frank Hodges
• 1924: A. J. Cook
• 1932: Ebby Edwards
• 1946: Arthur Horner
• 1959: Will Paynter
• 1968: Lawrence Daly
• 1984: Peter Heathfield
• 1992: Arthur Scargill
• 1992:
• 2002: Steve Kemp
• 2007: Chris Kitchen

Treasurers

• 1889: Enoch Edwards
• 1904: William Abraham
• 1918: James Robson
• 1924: William Pallister Richardson
• 1930:

References

1. ^ http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/pages/member_unions

Further reading

• Robert Page Arnot The Miners: a History of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, 1889-1910. London: Allen and Unwin, 1949.
• Robert Page Arnot South Wales Miners, Glowyr de Cymru: a History of the South Wales Miners' Federation (1914–1926). Cardiff : Cymric Federation Press, 1975.
• Robert Page Arnot The Miners; One Union, One Industry: a History of the National Union of Mineworkers, 1939-46. London: Allen and Unwin, 1979.
• BBC: Miners strike 1984
• Spartacus.Schoolnet.co.uk

External links

Organized labour portal

• NUM official site.