The North Staffordshire Miners' Federation 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 ...

representing miners in the area of

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, located in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, in England. The union was established in 1869 as an affiliate of the Miners' National Association (MNA). The association sent William Brown, an experience organiser, to become the union's first agent and secretary. Brown was highly successful at recruitment, raising membership to more than 12,000 by 1871. The union also affiliated to the more radical Amalgamated Association of Miners, although Brown personally favoured avoiding industrial disputes. By 1874, the price of coal had fallen, along with miners' wages, and union membership. Brown faced criticism for not taking a cut in his own wages. Some lodges left the union, but Brown kept the majority together, reorientating it back towards the MNA. In 1886, the union was a founder constituent of the Midland Counties Miners' Federation, and through this became an affiliate 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, Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' ...

(MFGB). Membership reached a peak of 16,709 in 1907, then gradually fell. In 1945, the union became the North Staffordshire District of Midland Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, with far less autonomy than before.

General Secretaries

:1869: William Brown :1874: James Hand :1877: Enoch Edwards :1912: Samuel Finney :1930s: Frederick James Hancock :1941: Hugh Leese

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of Staffordshire 1869 establishments in England Mining in Staffordshire Trade unions established in 1869 Trade unions based in Staffordshire