The National Winding and General Engineers' Society 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 ( ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It primarily represented

stationary engineer A stationary engineer (also called an operating engineer, power engineer or process operator) is a technically trained professional who operates, troubleshoots and oversees industrial machinery and equipment that provide and utilize energy in vari ...

s employed at underground coal mines to operate the

winding engine A winding engine is a stationary engine used to control a cable, for example to power a mining hoist at a pit head. Electric hoist controllers have replaced proper winding engines in modern mining, but use electric motors that are also tradition ...

s which ran the mining hoists. The operation of the mining hoist was a crucial part of the operation of a colliery and the engineers who ran them were generally more skilled than the general mineworkers, who were represented by 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 ...

(MFGB). The demarcation between engineers and miners often led to conflict between the two unions, as the MFGB aimed to be an

industrial union Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

, representing all employees in coal mining. The engineers' union was affiliated to the

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 ...

. It merged with the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

in 1935.

References

Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Mining trade unions Mining in the United Kingdom Trade unions disestablished in 1935 Transport and General Workers' Union amalgamations Trade unions based in South Yorkshire {{UK-trade-union-stub

See also

References