James Doonan (1868 – 19 April 1932) 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 ...

. Born in

West Calder West Calder ( sco, Wast Cauder, gd, Caladar an Iar) is a village in the council area of West Lothian, Scotland, located four miles west of Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston. Historically it is within the County of Midlothian. The village was ...

, in

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

, Doonan left school at the age of twelve and 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 ...

. He soon became involved in trade unionism, and was elected as checkweighman of his local pit. This led him to election as assistant agent for the Amalgamated Miners and Manual Workers Union (AMMW), which represented local miners, and as secretary of his local

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, Blackburn, Linlithgow, Livingston, West Calder and Whitburn. Situated sout ...

Miners' Association.

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

, ''Report of Proceedings at the 64th Annual Trades Union Congress'' (1932), p.228 Around this time, demarcation disputes between the AMMW and the

Lanarkshire Miners' County Union The Lanarkshire Miners' County Union, later the Lanarkshire Mineworkers' Union, represented coal miners in the Lanarkshire district of Scotland. The union was founded in 1893 as the Lanarkshire Miners' Federation, bringing together local miners' un ...

(LMCU) led the union to leave the

Scottish Miners' Federation 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 ...

(SMF). The SMF sent Robert Small of the LMCU to attempt to found a rival union in West Lothian, and he attempted to persuade Doonan to lead it, but Doonan refused, and the AMMW later rejoined the SMF. In 1912, Doonan was elected as secretary and agent of the AMMW, after the union's executive decided that he would be the only candidate put forward for a vote. Doonan was also active in the Labour Party, serving on Bathgate Town Council from 1910, and serving as Provost from 1923 until 1926. From 1929 until his death, he was president of 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 ...

, and he also served on the executive 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 ...

. Doonan became ill in April 1932, and died a few days later.

Robert 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 ...

, ''A History of the Scottish Miners'', p.210

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doonan, James 1868 births 1932 deaths Scottish Labour councillors People from West Lothian Provosts in Scotland Scottish trade unionists