The Warwickshire Miners' Association 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 ...

representing

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s in the

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

area of England. In 1885, the Newdegate family leased their Warwickshire coal mine to a Sheffield-based company, who attempted to cut costs by reducing miners' wages. This prompted miners to strike, and afterwards they formed the Warwickshire and Stafford Miners' Trade Union, which was later renamed as the "Warwickshire Miners' Association". The union's first secretary was William Johnson, who later became a local Member of Parliament. In 1889, the union was a founder constituent 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 ...

(MFGB). In about 1892, it affiliated to the

Midland Counties Miners' Federation The Midland Counties Miners' Federation was a trade union, representing coal miners in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. History The union was founded in 1886. It initially had seven affiliates, including the North Sta ...

, with Johnson becoming treasurer of the federation. The MFGB voted to affiliate to the Labour Party in 1909, but Johnson and the Warwickshire Miners refused to follow suit. This led to a series of disputes, and in 1912 a group of members including Walter John French split away to form the rival North Warwickshire Miners' Association. George Henry Jones became secretary of the North Warwickshire Miners, but moved to the Warwickshire Miners in 1919, and two years later was able to persuade the North Warwickshire Miners to rejoin the original union. At its peak, the union had 11,000 members, in 25 branches. The MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers in 1944, and the Warwickshire Miners' Association became its Warwickshire District (Midlands Area), with less autonomy than before.

General Secretaries

:1885: William Johnson :1917: William Johnson, Jr :1919: George Henry Jones :1947: A. J. Pratt :1960s: Vivian Francis :1970s: Dick Storer

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of Warwickshire 1885 establishments in England Mining in Warwickshire Trade unions established in 1885 Trade unions based in Warwickshire