The Miners' National Union (MNU) was a

trade union 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 benefits ( ...

which represented miners in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

History

The union was founded in November 1863 at a five-day long conference at the People's Hall in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. It was originally known as the National Association of Coal, Lime and Ironstone Miners of Great Britain or Miners' National Association. It campaigned for legislation in the interests of its members, but did not involve itself in trade disputes, and disappointed strikers who hoped it would provide them with financial support. Its most prominent achievement was in getting the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1872 passed; this required payment of miners by weight and restricted working hours for children in the mines.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of Trades Unions'', vol.2, pp.228-229 The

Amalgamated Association of Miners The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AAM) was formed in 1869 in Lancashire, at a time of increasing industrial conflict in the British coalfields. History The union was founded by Thomas Halliday and William Pickard, two miners' union agents who ...

was formed by former members of the union in 1869 and for a few years established new unions across the country. However, by 1875 it was in financial trouble and the two negotiated a merger; however, Macdonald ultimately only changed the name to the "Miners' National Union" and advised former members of the Amalgamated Association to join.John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.5, pp.481 Trade unions affiliated to the union included the

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was an early union representing coal miners in parts of the East Midlands of England. The union was founded around the turn of 1863 and 1864 by two miners: William Ball, and one other who died ...

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford becam ...

Northumberland Miners' Association The Northumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1864 to represent coal miners in Northumberland, following the collapse of a short-lived union covering both Northumberland and Durham min ...

South Yorkshire Miners' Association The South Yorkshire Miners' Association (SYMA) was an early British trade union representing coal miners in the southern West Riding of Yorkshire and northern Derbyshire. The union was founded in 1858 at the White Bear Inn in Barnsley in respo ...

and West Yorkshire Miners' Association. The union also worked closely with the Scottish Miners' Association, whose secretary was Alexander Macdonald, President of the MNU. The union's affiliates in 1873 were: By 1889, in addition to Northumberland and Durham, the newer

Yorkshire Miners' Association The Yorkshire Miners' Association was a British trade union. It is now an integral part of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). History The union was founded in 1881 with the merger of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, and the ...

Derbyshire Miners' Association The Derbyshire Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1880 to represent coal miners in northern Derbyshire, as a split from the South Yorkshire Miners' Association. Although it initially aimed to ...

Nottinghamshire Miners' Association The Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Nottinghamshire, England. A Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was founded in the 1860s, but became moribund by the 1870s, although some branc ...

, Ashton-under-Lyne Miners' Association and

Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Association The Monmouthshire and South Wales Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in south eastern Wales. Miners in Monmouthshire were organised in the 1870s in various small unions affiliated to the Amalgamated Association of Mine ...

held membership. At that year's conference, the unions voted against involving itself with wage disputes, instead focusing on lobbying Parliament for reforms. However, it had no objection to the creation of a new organisation being created to intervene on industrial matters and, as a result, several affiliates were founder members 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 ...

, the MNU then fading in importance.

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 ...

, ''The Miners'', vol.1, pp.94-95 In 1898, the Durham Miners and a few remaining minor bodies withdrew from the union; with only the Northumberland Miners still affiliated, the MNU was dissolved.

Presidents

:1863: Alexander Macdonald :1881:

Thomas Burt Thomas Burt PC (12 November 1837 – 12 April 1922) was a British trade unionist and one of the first working-class Members of Parliament. Career Burt became secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association in 1863, then, in 1874, was retu ...

Secretaries

:1863: Richard Mitchell :1865: John Worrall : Philip Casey :1875:

Thomas Halliday Thomas Halliday may refer to: * Thomas Halliday (cricketer) (1904–1977), English cricketer * Thomas Halliday (engraver) (c. 1780–c. 1854), English coin and medal engraver * Thomas Halliday (trade unionist) (1835–1919), English trade unionis ...

:1877:

William Crawford William Crawford may refer to: Entertainment * William Broderick Crawford (1911–1986), American film actor * Bill Crawford (cartoonist) (1913–1982), American editorial cartoonist * William L. Crawford (1911–1984), U.S. publisher and editor ...

:1890: John Wilson

References

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Mining trade unions 1863 establishments in England Trade unions established in 1863 1898 disestablishments Trade unions disestablished in the 1890s