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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 Mineworkers. It survives as the National Union of Mineworkers (Scotland Area). During the 1920s and 1930s the union was strongly affected by socialist and communist leadership as its members fought for better wages and living conditions. During World War II, they strongly supported government with increased production from the mines. In 1944 with the establishment of the National Union of Mineworkers, the NUSM became its "Scottish Area," with less autonomy. In the late 20th century, the mining industry declined dramatically in Scotland and across Great Britain, putting thousands of men out of work. Forerunners There had been several attempts to form a national union of miners in Scotland. The Scottish Coal and Iron Miners' Association, for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid And East Lothian Miners' Association
The Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association (MELMA) was a trade union representing coal miners in parts of the Lothian area of Scotland. The union described itself as having been founded in 1873 under the leadership of David Moffat,Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.II, p.226 but it was wound up the following year following an unsuccessful strike,Catherine P. Snodgress, ''The County of East Lothian'', p.161 Moffat having to relocate to Fife due to victimisation. The union was re-established in 1887 by George Young and Robert Brown. It registered in 1889, by which time it had a membership of about 2,000 workers. In 1894, it was a founder constituent of the Scottish Miners' Federation, and it played a leading role in that year's strike of miners in Scotland. Other major strikes took place in 1912 and 1921. In 1945, the association was merged with other unions to form the Stirling and Lothians Area of the National Union of Mine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Mineworkers, and Sloan served as general secretary of both organisations. In addition, he served as a Labour Party member of Ayrshire County Council for many years. Sloan was elected to Parliament in the 1939 South Ayrshire by-election, and served until his death, in 1945. One of his brothers – one of four who died in the First World War – was the footballer Donald Sloan. His great-great-granddaughter, Katy Clark, is a member of the House of Lords, The Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ... and was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Smith (trade Unionist)
Robert Smith (1862 – December 1934) was a Scottish trade union leader. Smith worked as a coal miner in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, and became active in the Ayrshire Miners' Union (AMU). He became a full-time agent for the union and became its president in 1908, serving for many years. Smith also became politically active, representing the Labour Party and becoming Provost of Kilwinning. At the 1918 United Kingdom general election, he stood in Bute and Northern Ayrshire, taking a distant second place with 28.5% of the vote. The AMU was affiliated to the Scottish Mineworkers' Union (SMWU), and Smith was elected as secretary of the SMWU in 1918. He remained in the post until 1927, when he was defeated by William Allan, leader of the Lanarkshire Miners' County Union. Smith was also losing support in the AMU, perceived as being too right-wing, and members began calling for their officials to be subject to regular re-election. In 1928, members of the AMU voted Smith out of offic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Brown (Scottish Politician)
James Brown, OBE, DL (16 December 1862 – 21 March 1939) was a Scottish Labour politician. Early life James Brown was born in the Whitletts area of Ayr, to James Brown (1839-1895) and Christina O'Hara (1840-1923). He had strong Scottish and Irish roots on both sides of his family. He lived most of his life in Annbank where he went to school. In 1888 he married his wife Catherine "Katie" MacGregor Steel. They had five children together. Career Brown started working as a miner from the age of 12. He would later become Secretary of the Ayrshire Miners' Union and of its national affiliate, the National Union of Scottish Mineworkers. He unsuccessfully contested North Ayrshire in January 1910 and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ayrshire from 1918–1931 and from 1935 until his death in 1939. He was awarded the OBE in 1917, appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1930. He was a member of the Scottish National War Memorial committee formed in 1918 by the then Secreta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Brown (trade Unionist)
Robert Brown (1848–1917) was a Scottish trade unionist. Born in Dalkeith, Brown left school at eleven and began working at the local colliery. In 1870, he moved to the United States and worked as a coal miner there for two years before returning to Scotland. He became an active trade unionist, and in 1890 was elected as secretary of the Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association.Ian MacDougall, ''Voices from Work and Home'', p.522 In 1894, Brown was a key mover in creating the Scottish Miners' Federation (SMF), and was elected as its second secretary, soon after its formation. The SMF affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain and Brown served on its executive on several occasions. Brown was elected to Dalkeith Burgh Council as a member of the Liberal Party and served as provost on three occasions. He followed his union in transferring his affiliation to the Labour Party, and stood unsuccessfully in the 1912 Midlothian by-election The 1912 Midlothian (UK Parli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trades Union Certification Officer
The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by the Employment Protection Act 1975. They head the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations. Responsibilities The Certification Officer is responsible for: * maintaining a list of trade unions and employers' associations * receiving and scrutinising annual returns from trade unions and employers' associations * determining complaints concerning trade union elections, certain other ballots and breaches of trade union rules * ensuring observance of statutory requirements governing mergers between trade unions and between employers' associations * overseeing the political funds and the finances of trade unions and employers' associations * certifying the independence of trade unions Certification Officer David Cockburn was appointed on 1 August 2001 and re-appointed in 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2012. Cockburn retired on 30 June 2016. He has chaired the Industrial Law Society (ILS), th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communist Party Of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB founded the ''Daily Worker'' (renamed the Morning Star (British newspaper), ''Morning Star'' in 1966). In 1936, members of the party were present at the Battle of Cable Street, helping organise resistance against the British Union of Fascists. In the Spanish Civil War, the CPGB worked with the USSR to create the British Battalion of the International Brigades, which party activist Bill Alexander (British politician), Bill Alexander commanded. In World War II, the CPGB followed the Comintern position, opposing or supporting the war in line with the involvement of the USSR. By the end of World War II, CPGB membership had nearly tripled and the party reached the height of its popularity. Many key CPGB members served as leaders of Britain's tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Page Arnot
Robert "Robin" Page Arnot (15 December 1890 – 18 May 1986), best known as R. Page Arnot, was a British Communist journalist and politician. Early years Robert Page Arnot, known to his friends as "Robin", was born in 1890 at Greenock, the son of a newspaper editor. He attended Glasgow University where he helped to form the University Socialist Federation in 1912, along with G.D.H. Cole and others. He also wrote for the '' Labour Leader'', publication of the Independent Labour Party, using the pseudonym "Jack Cade." In 1912 the Fabian socialist Beatrice Webb established a Committee of Enquiry into the future control of industry. Out of this sprang the Fabian Research Department, which later evolved into the Labour Research Department. One of the volunteers attracted by the project was Robin Page Arnot, who became its full-time head in 1914 – a position which he retained until 1926. In 1916 Arnot refused conscription to the British army and was imprisoned as a conscientio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the Economic ideology, economic, Political philosophy, political, and Social theory, social theories and Political movement, movements associated with the implementation of such systems. Social ownership can take various forms, including State ownership, public, Community ownership, community, Collective ownership, collective, cooperative, or Employee stock ownership, employee.: "Just as private ownership defines capitalism, social ownership defines socialism. The essential characteristic of socialism in theory is that it destroys social hierarchies, and therefore leads to a politically and economically egalitarian society. Two closely related consequences follow. First, every individual is entitled to an equal ownership share that earns an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaw Maxwell
James Shaw Maxwell (1855–1928), known as Shaw Maxwell, was a Scottish socialist activist. Born in Glasgow, as the son of Janet Maxwell, née Shaw, and the fruiterer and merchant James Taylor Maxwell, James Shaw Maxwell served his apprenticeship as a printer and lithographer. He worked as a lithographer and journalist, and joined the Liberal Party. He left the Liberals in 1880 in opposition to their local opposition to Irish nationalism, and became a leading supporter of Henry George and an activist in the Scottish Land Restoration League.BAILIE JAMES SHAW MAXWELL Who's Who in Glasgow 1909, Glasgow Digital Library Maxwell stood unsuccessfully for [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chisholm Robertson
Robert Chisholm Robertson (1861 - March 1930) was a Scottish political activist. Born in Limerigg, then in Stirlingshire, Robertson started working in a coal mine at the age of eight, but after the Mines Regulation Act 1872 prohibited children working underground, he returned to school. He returned to mining aged thirteen, and through studying at night school, he and his brother both obtained mine manager's certificates. His brother later became superintendent of mines for Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, while Chisholm Robertson turned to trade unionism. In 1886, he was elected as the first secretary of the Forth and Clyde Valley Miners' Association, serving until 1896, and also President of the Scottish Miners' National Association. He was on the first executive of the Miners Federation of Great Britain, founded in 1889, while in 1894, he was the founding secretary of the Scottish Miners' Federation.Ian MacDougall, ''Mid and East Lothian Miners' Association minutes: 1894-1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
