National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a trade union for coal miners in Great Britain, formed in 1945 from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The NUM took part in three national miners' strikes, in 1972, 1974 and 1984–85. Following the 1984–85 strike, and the subsequent closure of most of Britain's coal mines, it became a much smaller union. It had around 170,000 members when Arthur Scargill became leader in 1981,[6] a figure which had fallen in 2023 to an active membership of 82.[4]
Predecessor
Origins[edit]
The Miners' Federation of Great Britain was established in Newport, Monmouthshire in 1888[7] but did not function as a unified, centralised trade union for all miners.[8] Instead the federation represented and co-ordinated the affairs of the existing local and regional miners' unions whose associations remained largely autonomous. The South Wales Miners' Federation, founded in 1898,[9] joined the MFGB in 1899,[10] while the Northumberland Miners' Association and the Durham Miners' Association joined in 1907 and 1908, respectively.
Decline[edit]
Long based in London, Scargill commissioned a new headquarters building in Sheffield, which was completed in 1988. However, with membership declining, the union relocated again in 1992, to share the Yorkshire Area offices in Barnsley.[22][23]
Although weakened by the strike, the NUM was still a significant force into the early 1990s. A major scheme of closures of deep mines was announced by the government in 1992. The NUM ran a national ballot on possible strike action, and this was passed by members. It worked with the National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies and Shotfirers to challenge the closures in the High Court; the court imposed an emergency injunction against the closures and the strike action was called off. However, from mid-1993, the mines started closing;[24] the number of working miners and therefore also the membership of the union continued to fall.
In 2011 the union had 1,855 members.[25] In 2012 the union's general secretary, Chris Kitchen, admitted it was in decline after the investigative website Exaro[26] revealed that in 2011 the Derbyshire branch had just one member who was not a paid official. Filings with the Trades Union Certification Officer showed that the NUM's Derbyshire branch had just four members, three of whom were paid officials.[27]
In 2012, it emerged in court cases between the NUM and its former president Arthur Scargill that a substantial proportion of union members' subscriptions was being spent on expenses for Scargill, including unauthorised rent payments for a flat in London's Barbican Estate.[28]
A further 540 miners' job losses were announced in January 2013.[29]
As of 2016, the following area unions are affiliated to the NUM:[30]
