Founded 1869 | Members 80,000 (1900) | |
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Full name Durham Miners' Association Key people William Crawford (General Secretary and President), John Wilson (General Secretary and Treasurer), W. P. Richardson (General Secretary), Peter Lee (General Secretary), John Swan (General Secretary), Sam Watson (General Secretary and Treasurer), William House (President), James Robson (President), John Johnson (Treasurer) | ||
The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) is a trade union in the United Kingdom.
Contents
History
The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford became the union's President, and was able to rebuild its membership, the DMU soon becoming the largest miners' union in the UK.
The union saw rapid success, with the abolition of the unpopular Yearly Bond in 1872, while a short strike in 1874 began a process of agreeing wages across the county. A longer strike in 1879 was unsuccessful in preventing cuts to wages, but action in 1890 ensured that the district was the first in the county to adopt a standard seven-hour day. The prolonged strike of 1892 against a proposed 15% cut in wages ended with an agreement to accept a 10% cut.
In these early days, the DMA was part of the Miners' National Union, and supported Lib-Lab candidates; both Crawford and John Wilson serving local constituencies. Although the union affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) in 1892, it was expelled the following year after refusing to join the national strike. It again attempted to join in 1897, but asked to be bound only on questions of wages, which was not permitted. In particular, the Durham union opposed the Eight Hours Bill, which was strongly promoted by the MFGB. The union finally joined the MFGB in 1908, following the passage of the Eight Hours Bill. In addition, by 1900, membership had risen to 80,000.
The union became the Durham Area of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945 and is now the North East Area of the NUM, although it retains its name and identity.
General Secretaries
1869: John Richardson1870: A. Cairns1871: William Crawford1890: William Hammond Patterson1896: John Wilson1915: Thomas Cann1924: W. P. Richardson1930: Peter Lee1935: John Swan1945: Sam Watson1963: Alfred Hesler1970: J.C. (Kit) Robinson1972: W. Malt1979: Tom Callan1985: David Hopper2016 ; Alan john Cummings