Old Hill Miners' Association

Last updated

The Old Hill and Highley District Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Association, usually known as the Old Hill Miners' Association, was a trade union representing mineworkers in the Old Hill district of the West Midlands, in England.

Old Hill was the last area of the South Staffordshire coalfield to be developed, and the local mining industry was growing when the miners' union was established, in 1870. It soon became known for its militant approach, often striking in order to raise wages or improve working conditions. Unlike other local unions, it refused to take part in the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire Miners' Wages Board, which took a sliding scale approach to wage - they would automatically rise and fall with the price of coal. This approach was vindicated in 1884, when the board reduced wages, but miners came out on strike, with the backing of the Old Hill union, but the opposition of other local unions. As a result, the strike was lost, and in search of solidarity from workers in other industries, the union affiliated to the Midland Counties Trades Federation (MCTF). [1]

The MCTF was focused on the metal trades, and so the Old Hill Miners' Association switched to the Midland Counties Miners' Federation when that was formed, in 1886. Unlike the other local miners' unions, it participated enthusiastically in the federation. It briefly left after the federation affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain in 1889, but soon rejoined. As a result, when all the other local unions merged into the West Bromwich Miners' Association, Old Hill remained independent. [1] Despite this, it was always a small union; by 1910, it had 1,116 members. [2]

In 1944, the National Union of Mineworkers was established, and the union became the Highley District of its Midlands Area. A couple of years later, it merged into the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire District. [3]

General Secretaries

William Breakwell [1]
1883: Benjamin Winwood [1]
1912: Samuel Edwards [1]

Related Research Articles

National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) British coal mining trade union

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. After 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.

South Wales Miners Federation

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.

Lawrence Daly was a coal miner, trade unionist and political activist.

National Union of Scottish Mineworkers

The National Union of Scottish Mineworkers (NUSW) is a trade union in Scotland, founded in 1894 as the Scottish Miners Federation. It joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and in 1914 changed its name to National Union of Scottish Mineworkers. It survives as the National Union of Mineworkers.

The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation (LCMF) was a trade union that operated on the Lancashire Coalfield in North West England from 1881 until it became the Lancashire area of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945.

The Midland Counties Miners' Federation was a trade union, representing coal miners in the West Midlands region of England.


The Northern Rhodesian African Mineworkers' Union (A.M.U.) was a trade union in Northern Rhodesia which represented black African miners in the Copperbelt. The AMU was formed in 1949, and campaigned actively to improve working conditions and wages for African miners, as well as opposing racial discrimination in hiring. The union amalgamated with several other mining unions in 1967 to form the Mineworkers' Union of Zambia.

The Cumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Greater Birmingham area.

The West Yorkshire Miners' Association (WYMA) was an early British trade union representing coal miners in the central part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

William Brown was a British coal miner who became a prominent trade unionist.

The Warwickshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Warwickshire area of England.

The Pelsall District Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Walsall area of England.

The North Staffordshire Miners' Federation was a trade union representing miners in the area of Stoke-on-Trent, located in Staffordshire, in England.

The West Bromwich Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in southern Staffordshire and eastern Worcestershire, in the United Kingdom.

The National Federation of Colliery Officials was a trade union representing colliery workers in the United Kingdom who were not involved in manual labour.

John Taylor was a British trade unionist and politician.

Henry Rust was a British trade unionist.

The Shropshire Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Federation, often known as the Shropshire Miners' Association, was a trade union representing coal miners in Shropshire, in England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Eric Taylor, "Winwood, Benjamin", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.II, pp.409–413
  2. ↑ Gregory, Roy (1968). The Miners and British Politics 1906-1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 168.
  3. ↑ National Union of Mineworkers, "Annual Conference 1946: Report of the National Executive Committee", p.98
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.