The Midland Counties 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

coal miner Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

s in the

West Midlands region The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level for Statistics, statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area known tradit ...

of England.

History

The union was founded in 1886. It initially had seven affiliates, including the North

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

Miners' Association, the

Old Hill Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. It is part of the West Midlands conurbation. History ''Kelly's Directory of Staffordshir ...

and

Highley Highley is a village and civil parish in the county and district of Shropshire, England. It is located on the west bank of the River Severn and is south east of Bridgnorth. History Highley began as a rural farming community, including an entry ...

District Miners, Enginemen and Surfacemen's Association, the

Pelsall Pelsall is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Forming part of the borough's border with Staffordshire, Pelsall is north of Walsall and midway between the towns of Bloxwich and Brow ...

District Miners, the

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

Miners' Association, and the

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

District Miners. It affiliated to 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' ...

. By 1893, the federation's affiliates also included the

Bristol Miners' Association The Bristol Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Bristol and Bedminster, Bristol, Bedminster in England. The union was founded in June 1889 with around 2,000 members. It recruited Northumberland miner William Whitefi ...

Forest of Dean Miners' Association The Forest of Dean Miners' Association was a trade union for coal miners in the Forest of Dean area of England. The union was founded in 1870, based in Cinderford in Gloucestershire. It initially prioritised calling for waste ground to be sold ch ...

Somerset Miners' Association The Somerset Miners' Association or Somersetshire Miners' Association was a coal mining trade union based in the Somerset coalfield, Somerset, England. The union was founded in 1872 as a section of the Amalgamated Association of Miners. However, ...

, and

Warwickshire Miners' Association The Warwickshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Warwickshire area of England. In 1885, the Newdegate family leased their Warwickshire coal mine to a Sheffield-based company, who attempted to cut costs by re ...

. The first three of these accepted reductions in wages which went against federation policy, and therefore left in 1894, recombining as the South-Western Federation. In 1945, the union became the Midland Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, with less autonomy than before. It dissolved in 2011.

Trade 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 res ...

,
Annual Return for a Trade Union: National Union of Mineworkers (Midlands Area): 2010

Affiliates

Leadership

Presidents

:1886:

Enoch Edwards Enoch Edwards may refer to: * Enoch Edwards (trade unionist) * Enoch Edwards (surgeon) {{hndis, Edwards, Enoch ...

:1912:

Samuel Finney Samuel Finney may refer to: * Samuel Finney (politician) * Samuel Finney (painter) {{hndis, Finney, Samuel ...

:1930s: F. J. Hancock :1941: John Blakemore? :1950s: Arthur Baddeley :1963: Jack Lally :1983: John Connon

Secretaries

:1886: Samuel Henry Whitehouse :1888: Benjamin Dean :1890: Albert Stanley :1915: John Baker? : :1930s:

George Henry Jones George Henry Jones (1884 – December 1958) was a British trade unionist and politician. Born in Hednesford, Jones began working as a pit-boy at an early age. He became active in the Cannock Chase Miners' Association, and was elected as its presi ...

:1948: J. H. Southall :1963: A. M. Jones : :1983: Jim Colgan :1990s: Joe Wills

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of the West Midlands (region) 1886 establishments in England Mining in England Trade unions established in 1886 Trade unions disestablished in 2011 Trade unions based in Staffordshire