National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)

National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
NUM
NUM logo.png
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.

Contents

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In January 1945 the MFGB was superseded by the National Union of Mineworkers.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

The Miners' Strike, 1984-85

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

Vice Presidents

General Secretaries

Treasurers

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

References

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

Syndicalism.svg Organized labour portal
  • NUM official site.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • National Union of Mineworkers — may refer to: National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an …   Wikipedia

  • National Union of Mineworkers — Die National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) ist eine britische Gewerkschaft. Die Gewerkschaft ging 1945 aus einer Reorganisation der Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) hervor. Sie wurde 20 Jahre lang von Arthur Scargill geführt, bevor Ian… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • History of socialism in Great Britain — The History of socialism in Great Britain is generally thought to stretch back to the 19th century. Starting to arise in the aftermath of the English Civil War notions of socialism in Great Britain have taken many different forms from the utopian …   Wikipedia

  • Communist Party of Great Britain — Not to be confused with Communist Party of Britain. Communist Party of Great Britain Founded 1920 Dissolved 1991 Preceded by British Socialist Party Communist Unity Group South Wales Socialist Society …   Wikipedia

  • Miners' Federation of Great Britain — Die National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) ist eine britische Gewerkschaft. Die Gewerkschaft ging 1945 aus einer Reorganisation der Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) hervor. Sie wurde 20 Jahre lang von Arthur Scargill geführt, bevor Ian… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Union violence — When Union violence has occurred, it has frequently been in the context of industrial unrest.[1] Union violence is generally a defensive measure carried out against guards or strikebreakers during attempts to undercut strikes.[1] Violence has… …   Wikipedia

  • National Coal Board — The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on vesting day ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Transport and General Workers Union — Briefmarke 1968 100 Jahre Gewerkschaften in Deutschland Eine Gewerkschaft ist ein Interessenverband von Arbeitnehmern. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Trades Union Congress — Infobox Union name= Trades Union Congress country= United Kingdom affiliation= ITUC members= Approx 6.5 million (2006) full name= Trades Union Congress founded= 1868 current= office= Congress House, London people= Dave Prentis, President Brendan… …   Wikipedia

  • Trades Union Congress — Der Trades Union Congress (TUC) ist ein gewerkschaftlicher Dachverband von Gewerkschaften in Großbritannien. Er versteht sich als Dachverband von 65 Gewerkschaften mit ca. 6,5 Millionen Mitgliedern. Funktion Das Hauptentscheidungsorgan der TUC… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”