The Mid and West Lothian Labour 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 coal and shale miners in the

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

area of Scotland. The union was founded in 1886 with 1,577 members, but by 1892 its membership had fallen to only 500, and it was renamed as the Amalgamated Miners and Manual Workers Union (AMMW). This new focus led to an immediate rise in membership, which reached 3,000 in 1893.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.II, p.226 The union principally operated in West Lothian, but in its early years, it also established branches in

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

. After the Lanarkshire Miners County Union (LMCU) was founded in 1893, these led to demarcation disputes, and although both unions were founder components of the

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 Minew ...

(SMF), the AMMW was later expelled. Robert Small of the LMCU tried to form a rival union in West Lothian, but failed to gain the support of leading activist James Doonan, and eventually the AMMW rejoined the SMF. Around 1920, the union became known as the West Lothian Mineworkers Union. In 1945, it was merged with other unions to form the Stirling and Lothians Area of the National Union of Mineworkers.C. P. Snodgrass, ''The county of East Lothian'', p.162

General Secretaries

:1886: John Wilson :1911: James Doonan :1919: F. Young :1920s: James Doonan :1932: John Armstrong

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) 1886 establishments in Scotland Mining in Scotland Defunct trade unions of Scotland Trade unions established in 1886