Frank Cave (17 December 1942 – 7 January 2002) was a

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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 political activist. Cave was born in

Edlington Edlington is a town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, lying to the south west of Doncaster and Warmsworth. It has a population of 8,276. The original parish town of Edlington is now known as ''Old Edlington ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and grew up in nearby

Brodsworth Brodsworth is a village, civil parish and suburb of Doncaster in the City of Doncaster district in South Yorkshire, England. situated about five miles north-west of Doncaster. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,875, increasi ...

. He became a

coal miner Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

on leaving school, and quickly became active in the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). As a committed socialist, he became a key ally of

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...

, then a member of the branch committee at a nearby pit.Martin Wainwright,
Obituary: Frank Cave
, ''

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'', 17 January 2002 Cave rose through the ranks of the NUM, becoming the Brodsworth pit's delegate, then gaining election to the executive of the Yorkshire Area and, in 1982, becoming Agent for the Yorkshire Area, then a full-time post. Yorkshire was the largest area of the NUM, so he played a key role during the strike of 1984/5. In 1990, Cave was elected as Vice President of the NUM, but the national programme of pit closures had reduced the importance of this role, and Cave had time to devote to other political activities. In particular, he was a strong support of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

, and arranged aid convoys to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, as a result of which he travelled to the country and met Castro. He also joined Scargill's Socialist Labour Party, and was elected as its President in 1997, serving until his death in 2002. In this role, he stood on the party list in the

1999 European Parliament election The 1999 European Parliament election was a European election for all 626 members of the European Parliament held across the 15 European Union member states on 10, 11 and 13 June 1999. The voter turn-out was generally low, except in Belgium and ...

Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The population in 2011 was 5,284,000 with its largest settlements being Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, and York. It is ...

, but was not elected. Scargill and Cave were removed as trustees of the Yorkshire Miners' Welfare Trust Fund Scheme and the Yorkshire Miners' Welfare Convalescent Homes in 1997, after the High Court found that they had ignored rules on the transfer of funds, in an attempt to avoid them becoming subject to partnership funding schemes, which they opposed. The Court agreed that the two had not attempted to profit from this transfer.Scargill 'mismanaged' charities
, ''

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'', 22 December 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cave, Frank 1942 births 2002 deaths English trade unionists People from Edlington English miners Socialist Labour Party (UK) members Vice Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)