Abraham Moffat (24 September 1896 – 28 March 1975) was a Scottish

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist. He was elected repeatedly to high office in the trade unions and represented the union on government coal boards. He held major union offices: President of the National Union of Scottish Mine Workers; member of the executive committee of the

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 Engla ...

; Vice-chairman Scottish Regional Coal Board; and member

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 United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

. He served as president of the union from 1942 to his retirement in 1961, when he was succeeded by his younger brother Alex Moffat, also an activist. Joining the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB) in 1922, Abe Moffat was active in a variety of ways. In 1924 he was elected as a communist candidate to the

Ballingry Ballingry ( or locally or (older) ); sco, Ballingry, Bingry, gd, Baile Iongrach) is a small town in Fife, Scotland. It is near the boundary with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population (2016) of . The once separat ...

Parish Council, serving for 5 years. He was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union, becoming its general secretary in 1931. He served until 1935, when the union dissolved. He was also elected to the Central Committee of the CPGB in 1932.

Early life

Moffat was born in 1896 into a

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

family in

Lumphinnans Lumphinnans (Scottish Gaelic: Lann Fhìonain) is a small, former mining village along the B981 road, from west to east between the towns of Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, in central Fife. Lumphinnans Primary and Community School is the local primar ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. His family had a long tradition of involvement in mining trade unionism; his grandfather had been a pioneer of the trade union in the Lothians in the 1860s, but was forced to move to Fife due to victimisation. He left school at the age of fourteen to work at the local coal mine, while spending his spare time competing in middle-distance athletics. He joined the miners' strike of 1912. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. He did not become politically active until after the war.

Rise to prominence

Abe and his brother, Alex Moffat, were central to the miners' struggle for economic rights. Many years later, the ''Central Fife Times and Advertiser'' reported that "the name Moffat was to become legend throughout the Fife, then Scottish, and ultimately the British mining industry. The Moffat brothers were reported to be in the thick of every struggle to defend and improve the conditions of the miners and their families." Alex and another sibling, David, born seven years apart, were more than just younger brothers to Abe. They were brothers-in-arms, and usually biographies tend to combine them. Being born in Lumphinnans one of several pit towns dominated at the time by the Communist Party and called '

Little Moscow Little Moscow was a term for towns and villages in capitalist societies whose population appeared to hold extreme left-wing political values or communist views. The places so named were typically in working class areas, normally with strong trade ...

' by some they were almost destined to become mine unionists and communists. Working in the pits for 16 years, Abe Moffat was frequently victimised. He actively supported miners'

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

actions. Moffat was prominent in the 1921 lock-out of miners, and afterwards was blacklisted. He turned to

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

until he was able to regain work at the pit. Inspired by John Maclean and Bob Stewart, in 1922 he joined the recently founded

(CPGB). He helped publish the ''Buzzer,'' a newsletter for militant miners at Glencraig Colliery,

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...

. In 1924, he was elected for the party to

Parish Council, holding the seat for five years. Moffat held office in the Mineworkers' Reform Union, which split from the Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan Mineworkers' Association (FCKMU). It was active in the 1926 miners' strike, and Moffat arranged for the parish council to pay local miners during the dispute. This was illegal, and Moffat was fined £172, but he did not pay and the matter was dropped. However, after the strike, the industry owners did not hire him for twelve years. Although Moffat was unemployed for lengthy periods, he was elected as a checkweighman at Lumphinnans Colliery, also known as Peeweep, in 1928. Due to his leadership in a dispute over payment systems, Moffat was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union. The union was struggling to survive, and Moffat rose quickly to become its general secretary in 1931, serving until it was dissolved in 1935. He was also elected to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1932.

National Union of Scottish Mineworkers

The dissolution of the United Mineworkers left Moffat out of work again, but he was elected to Fife County Council in Valleyfield and Blairhall in 1938. Working a few days at the Brucefield mine made him eligible to become a member of the FCKMU. He became his branch delegate to the executive, then in 1940 was elected to the

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 Minew ...

' executive. Two years later, Moffat was elected president of the union, beating Jimmy McKendrick. He used the post to advocate increased output during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was re-elected in 1944 with a large majority over Hugh Brannan. He held three major union offices: President of the National Union of Scottish Mine Workers; member of the executive committee of the

; Vice-chairman. Scottish Regional Coal Board; member

. In 1943, Moffat met King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

at a reception at the

Gleneagles Hotel Gleneagles Hotel is a hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland. It was commissioned by the Caledonian Railway and opened in 1924. The bandleader, Henry Hall (bandleader), Henry Hall, performed at the hotel before the World War II, Second World War d ...

. Newspaper reports noted that the two discussed production levels in Scottish mines. On 8 October 1947 Moffat testified at the Whitehaven Explosion Inquiry. Moffat was also involved in inquiries into disasters at pits in Knockshinnoch, Kames, Linday and Auchengeich. He was known for his passion and grasp of detail at the inquiries, and as a result was nicknamed the "Miners QC". When the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was formed in 1945, Moffat was elected to its executive, serving until his retirement.1945 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1947 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1950 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian; 1955 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian;1960 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian He stood for the presidency of the NUM in 1954, losing to Ernest Jones. In this period he also assisted

Robin Page Arnot Robert "Robin" Page Arnot (15 December 1890 – 18 May 1986), best known as R. Page Arnot, was a British Communist journalist and politician. Early years Robert Page Arnot, known to his friends as "Robin", was born in 1890 at Greenock, the s ...

with writing his ''History of the Scottish Miners''. Moffat retired in 1961. He was succeeded as president of the Scottish Mineworkers by his younger brother,

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

. In his later years, Abe Moffat devoted his time to the Scottish Old Age Pensioners' Association until his death in 1975.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moffat, Abe 1896 births 1975 deaths Communist Party of Great Britain councillors Councillors in Fife People from Lumphinnans Royal Engineers soldiers Scottish trade unionists Scottish miners British Army personnel of World War I