 | |
| Founded | 24 October 1898 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Maescyoed, Pontypridd |
| Location | |
Members | 102 (2016) [1] |
Key people | Wayne Thomas (secretary) Kevin T. Thomas (chair) |
Parent organization | National Union of Mineworkers |
The South Wales Miners' Federation (SWMF), nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for coal miners in South Wales. It survives as the South Wales Area of the National Union of Mineworkers.
The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AAM) was influential in South Wales during the early 1870s, but it collapsed in 1875. Of the AAM's various districts, only the Cambrian Miners' Association survived the collapse, but it steadily grew in membership, and other local unions were founded. The local unions disagreed over whether to negotiate wages as part of a "sliding scale", where pay rose and fell in line with coal export prices. This began to change in 1892, when the unions formed a joint committee. Its initial members were William Abraham, David Beynon, Thomas Davies, Daronwy Isaac, J. Jones, David Morgan, Alfred Onions and Morgan Weeks from the sliding scale districts, and David Ajax, John Davies, J. Edwards, Joseph Phillips and M. Williams from the non-sliding scale districts. Thomas Richards was elected as secretary, and the following year, Abraham was elected as president, Morgan as vice-president, and Josiah Edwards as the treasurer. The committee achieved little, but formed a basis for the formation of the SWMF. [2]
The union was founded on 24 October 1898, [3] following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898. Numerous local coal miners' unions found their funds depleted and decided to merge. They include:
| Union [4] [5] | Founded | Joined | Membership (1892) | Membership (1898) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdare, Merthyr and Dowlais Miners' Association | 1882 | 1898 | 7,000 | 500 |
| Anthracite Miners' Association | 1882 | 1898 | 3,500 | 6,050 |
| Cambrian Miners' Association | 1872 | 1898 | 14,000 (1885) | 10,000 (1893) |
| Colliery Enginemen and Stokers of Neath and District | 1892 | 1900 | 55 | 186 |
| Ebbw Vale and Sirhowy Colliery Workmen's Association | 1884 | 1898 | 2,500 | 3,500 |
| Garw Miners' Association | 1880 | 1898 | 3,000 (1890) | |
| Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Association | 1887 | 1898 | 6,059 | 70 |
| Monmouth Western Valley Miners' Association | 1897 | 1898 | N/A | 500 |
| Rhymney Valley Miners' Association | 1893 | 1898 | 2,500 (1893) | 1,917 |
| Western Miners' Association | 1872 | 1898 | 4,540 | 5,588 |
Prior to the formation of the Federation, these local unions had relatively little success in securing widespread trade union membership. Chris Williams estimates that, while reliable figures are unavailable, it appears that no more than 18% of the workforce in the South Wales Coalfield were union members between 1892 and 1897. This was well below the British average of 39% and significantly lower than Scotland (25%), Yorkshire (58%) and the north-east of England (59%). [6]
Despite its name, the new union was not a federation; the former unions were dissolved and became the basis of twenty districts, each with one or more full-time agents. It had an immediate impact. By the end of 1898, the union had 60,000 members, or 47% of the coalfield workforce, and by 1900 this had risen to 127,894 or 87% of the workforce. [6]
By 1914, four districts had more than 10,000 members: Anthracite, Monmouthshire & Western Valleys, Rhondda No.1, and Tredegar Valley. [7]
The new union affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) in 1899. [8]
In the early twentieth century, its leadership were aligned with the Liberal Party; MPs Thomas Richards, William Abraham, John Williams and William Brace all took the Liberal Party whip in parliament. However, when the MFGB held a ballot on affiliation to the Labour Party in 1906, a majority of SWMF members voted in favour. As the national federation narrowly voted against, another vote was held in 1908, by which time SWMF members voted 74,675 to 44,616 in favour. [9] Some in the union were radicalised by such events as the Cambrian Combine Dispute and the Tonypandy Riot of 1910.
The union was divided into districts, and in the early years, these were powerful bodies. They varied greatly in size, and those with more than 3,000 members were entitled to an automatic place on the union's executive, plus an extra place for each additional 6,000 members. Each district held a monthly meeting, comprising one delegate from each lodge, and was led by a district executive. Each district elected at least one agent, who then served until they chose to retire, thus making the role hugely important. [10]
The number of districts gradually increased, to a peak of twenty, then with the abolition to the tiny Saundersfoot district, continued at nineteen until 1934. By this point, most districts were struggling financially, and so a complete restructure took place. The districts were replaced by eight areas, employing one or more agents, but otherwise much less important, governance moving to the level of the combine or lodge. [10]
| District (to 1933) | Forerunner | Membership (1914) [7] | Area (from 1934) [11] | Headquarters [11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthracite | Anthracite Miners' Association | 10,856 | No.1: Anthracite | Swansea |
| Western | Western Miners' Association | 7,330 | ||
| Afan Valley | Created 1908 | 2,600 | No.2: Afan Valley | Port Talbot |
| Garw | Garw Miners' Association | 3,747 | No.3: Garw | Bridgend |
| Maesteg | Created 1898 | 5,435 | ||
| Ogmore and Gilfach | Created 1903 | 2,077 | ||
| Pontypridd and Rhondda | Created 1898 | 3,422 | No.4: Rhondda | Porth |
| Rhondda No.1 | Cambrian Miners' Association | 18,956 | ||
| Aberdare | Aberdare, Merthyr and Dowlais Miners' Association | 4,903 | No.5: Merthyr, Aberdare and Dowlais | Aberdare |
| Dowlais | 2,482 | |||
| Merthyr | 2,257 | |||
| Taff and Cynon | Created 1899 | 3,376 | ||
| East Glamorgan | Created 1898 | 3,529 | No.6: Rhymney Valley | Bargoed |
| Rhymney Valley | Rhymney Valley Miners' Association | 6,367 | ||
| Ebbw Vale | Ebbw Vale and Sirhowy Colliery Workmen's Association | 4,000 | No.7: Tredegar | Pontllanfraith |
| Tredegar Valley | Created 1898 | 10,051 | ||
| Blaina | Created 1899 | 4,284 | No.8: Blaina and West Monmouth | Crumlin |
| Eastern Valleys | Created 1899 | 6,155 | ||
| Monmouth Western Valleys | Monmouth Western Valley Miners' Association | 10,731 | ||
| Saundersfoot | Created 1900 | 356 | Dissolved by 1926 | |
These were gradually reduced, and by 1979 only five districts existed: [12]
Over the years, there were a few splits from the union. The Monmouthshire and South Wales Colliery Enginemen, Stokers and Surface Craftsmen's General Association left in 1903. [13] The South Wales Miners' Industrial Union, a moderate breakaway union was set up in 1926 in opposition to the General Strike but was disbanded in 1938. In 1940, the SWMF also started representing miners in the Forest of Dean.
In 1945, the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and the Fed became the NUM (South Wales Area), with less autonomy than before.
In 1960, the South Wales Area was expanded to include the Somerset coalfield.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a trade union for coal miners in Great Britain, formed in 1945 from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The NUM took part in three national miners' strikes, in 1972, 1974 and 1984–85. Following the 1984–85 strike, and the subsequent closure of most of Britain's coal mines, it became a much smaller union. It had around 170,000 members when Arthur Scargill became leader in 1981, a figure which had fallen in 2015 to an active membership of around 100.
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.
Arthur Lewis Horner was a Welsh trade union leader and communist politician. During his periods of office as President of the South Wales Miners Federation (SWMF) from 1936, and as General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1946, he became one of the most prominent and influential communists in British public life.
Iorwerth Rhys Thomas was a Welsh Labour Party politician.
William Abraham, universally known by his bardic name, Mabon, was a Welsh trade unionist and Liberal/Labour politician, and a member of parliament (MP) from 1885 to 1920. Although an MP for 35 years, it was as a trade unionist that Abraham is most well known. Initially a pioneer of trade unionism, who fought to enshrine the principle of workers' representation against the opposition of the coal-owners, he was regarded in later life as a moderate voice believing that disputes should be solved through conciliation rather than industrial action. This drew him into conflict with younger and more militant leaders from the 1890s onwards. Although the defeat of the miners in the Welsh coal strike of 1898 was a clear defeat for Mabon's strategy, his prestige was sufficient to ensure that he became the first president of the South Wales Miners' Federation which was established in the wake of the dispute. Abraham was noted for his powerful speaking voice, and was a renowned orator in English and Welsh.
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The West Bromwich Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in southern Staffordshire and eastern Worcestershire, in the United Kingdom.
The Cambrian Miners' Association, also known as the Rhondda District Miners' Association, was an early trade union representing coal miners in the Rhondda Valley, in Wales.
The Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in south eastern Wales.
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The Ebbw Vale and Sirhowy Colliery Workmen's Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Ebbw Vale area of South Wales.
The Anthracite Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in parts of Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan and Breconshire, in South Wales.
The Aberdare, Merthyr and Dowlais Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in part of Glamorgan in South Wales.
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