The National Union of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners, Coke Workers and Kindred Trades (NUB) was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in England and Wales which existed between 1888 and 1985. It represented process workers in the British iron and steel industry.

History

Prior to the formation of the union, blastfurnacemen had been represented by the Associated Iron and Steel Workers of Great Britain, but this organisation concerned itself primarily with the puddlers. In response, the

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

-based blastfurnacemen split away to form the "Cleveland Blastfurnacemen's Association" in 1878, followed in 1887 by a split in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

. These two unions merged the following year to form the first National Association of Blastfurnacemen, which rapidly spread across the country. The union was re-founded in 1892 in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

as the National Federation of Blastfurnacemen, with membership reaching 6,773 in 1898, then continuing a slow growth. In 1904, the organisation of the union devoted itself to organising in Cleveland and South Durham, while a new national federation of the same name was founded the following year, and the old union affiliated to it. In 1909, it was renamed as the National Federation of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners and Kindred Trades, and membership topped 25,000 by 1918. In 1921, the members of the federation united to form a single union, the "National Union of Blastfurnacemen, Ore Miners, Coke Workers and Kindred Trades". The union suffered a lengthy decline in membership, exacerbated by the closure of many foundries. By 1980, membership had fallen to less than 14,000, and it developed a close working relationship with the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC), which already organised blast furnace workers in Scotland. In 1985, the NUB merged into the ISTC.

Election results

The union sponsored a Labour Party candidate in several Parliamentary elections.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1889: William Snow :1892: Patrick Walls :1917: Thomas McKenna :1939: Ambrose Callighan :1948:

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:1953: Joseph O'Hagan :1968: James Barry :1970: Hector Smith :1982: Nick Leadley

General Presidents

:1921:

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:1939: Ambrose Callighan :1939: Harry France :1948: Joseph O'Hagan :1953–1959: Thomas Walsh

References

External links

Catalogue of the NUB archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

{{Authority control Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1888 establishments in the United Kingdom Steel industry trade unions of the United Kingdom Mining trade unions Mining in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1888 Trade unions disestablished in 1985 Iron and Steel Trades Confederation amalgamations Trade unions based in North Yorkshire