The Ayrshire Miners' Union was a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

trade union based in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

History

The first Ayrshire Miners' Union was founded in 1880, with

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, and was its first Leader of the Labour Party (UK), parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. ...

as its organiser. The union supported a strike for higher wages over the winter of 1881/82, but this was unsuccessful, and the union dissolved. A new union was founded in 1886, with its Hardie elected as its first secretary.David Howell, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906'', pp.33-35 In 1893, it was reorganised on a federal basis and renamed the Ayrshire Miners' Federal Union.Alan Campbell, ''The Scottish Miners, 1874-1939: Trade unions and politics'', p.41 It was a founder of 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) in 1894, and by 1897 it claimed 3,000 members out of a total workforce of 10,000 in the county, making it the third-largest component of the federation. In 1944, the SMF became the unitary

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 the union became its Ayrshire District, with less autonomy than before.

Secretaries

:1886:

:1889: Peter Muir :1908:

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

:1939:

Alexander Sloan Alexander Sloan (11 November 1879 – 16 November 1945) was Labour MP for South Ayrshire, in Scotland. Sloan worked as a coal miner in Ayrshire, and joined the Ayrshire Miners' Union. The union was affiliated to the National Union of Scottish Mi ...

Presidents

:1886: John Bank :1894:

:1908: Robert Smith :1934: James Mullen

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) 1886 establishments in Scotland Mining in Scotland Defunct trade unions of Scotland Trade unions established in 1886