Ayrshire Miners' Union

The Ayrshire Miners' Union was a coal mining trade union based in Scotland.

History[]

The first Ayrshire Miners' Union was founded in 1880, with Keir Hardie 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.^[1]

A new union was founded in 1886, with its Hardie elected as its first secretary.^[2] In 1893, it was reorganised on a federal basis and renamed the Ayrshire Miners' Federal Union.^[3] It was a founder of the Scottish Miners' Federation (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.^[2]

In 1944, the SMF became the unitary National Union of Scottish Mineworkers, and the union became its Ayrshire District, with less autonomy than before.

Secretaries[]

1886: Keir Hardie

1889: Peter Muir

1908: James Brown

1939: Alexander Sloan

Presidents[]

1886: John Bank

1894: James Brown

1908: Robert Smith

1934: James Mullen

References[]

^ Robin Page Arnot, A History of the Scottish Miners, p.67
^ ^a ^b David Howell, British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906, pp.33-35
^ Alan Campbell, The Scottish Miners, 1874-1939: Trade unions and politics, p.41

[1] Robin Page Arnot, A History of the Scottish Miners, p.67

[howell-2] David Howell, British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906, pp.33-35

[3] Alan Campbell, The Scottish Miners, 1874-1939: Trade unions and politics, p.41

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v t Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Presidents	1889 Pickard 1904 En. Edwards 1912 Smillie 1922 Smith 1929 Richards 1931 Eb. Edwards 1932 Lee 1934 J. Jones 1939 Lawther 1954 E. Jones 1960 Machen 1960 Ford 1971 Gormley 1982 Scargill 2002 Lavery 2012 Wilson
Vice-Presidents	1889 Woods 1909 Smillie 1912 Harvey 1914 House 1917 Smith 1922 Walsh 1924 Richards 1929 Eb. Edwards 1931 Lee 1932 J. Jones 1933 Davies 1934 Lawther 1939 Bowman 1950 E. Jones 1954 T. Jones 1961 Collindridge 1963 Bullough 1969 Schofield 1973 McGahey 1987 Thompson 1989 Vacant 1992 Cave 2002 2010 Wilson 2012
General Secretaries	1889 Ashton 1919 Hodges 1924 Cook 1932 Eb. Edwards 1946 Horner 1959 Paynter 1968 Daly 1984 Heathfield 1992 Scargill 1992 Vacant? 2002 Kemp 2007 Kitchen
Treasurers	1889 En. Edwards 1904 Abraham 1918 Robson 1921 Richardson
Affiliates and areas	Bristol Cleveland Cokemen Colliery Officials and Staffs Cumberland Derbyshire Durham Forest of Dean Kent Lancashire and Cheshire Leicestershire Midland Counties (Cannock Chase North Staffordshire Old Hill Pelsall Shropshire Warwickshire West Bromwich) Northumberland North Wales Nottinghamshire Scotland (Ayrshire Fife and Kinross Lanarkshire Mid and East Lothian Mid and West Lothian Stirling) Somerset South Derbyshire South Wales Yorkshire
Strikes	1893 1912 1926 1969 1972 1974 1984–1985