The history of the Yorkshire miners : 1881-1918

This detailed social history is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners Association in 1881 through to the end of the First World War. The author reviews the policy and performance of the union at the district level, its involvement in both national and international miners'organizations, and the experience of the union and mining community in a number of important industrial actions, including struggles for an eight-hour day and minimum wage. BOOK COVER......Page 1 HALF-TITLE......Page 2 TITLE......Page 3 COPYRIGHT......Page 4 DEDICATION......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 12 1 OPENING OUT OF THE YORKSHIRE COALFIELD......Page 16 RECRUITMENT; FAMILY; VARIETY OF COMMUNITY TYPES......Page 26 Variety of mining communities......Page 28 Recruitment of labour......Page 29 Variation in occupational diversity......Page 31 Changing ratio of males to females......Page 35 Economic participation of women......Page 36 The vulnerability of mining families......Page 39 COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS— WORKING-CLASS INITIATIVES......Page 43 Religion......Page 44 The co-operative movement in the Yorkshire coalfield......Page 46 Leisure......Page 51 The union......Page 52 Politics......Page 53 EARLY TRADITIONS OF TRADE UNIONISM......Page 55 Combination prior to the 1840s......Page 56 National organising efforts—the great strike of 1844......Page 57 Industrial action in 1853 and 1858; checkweighman initiative......Page 59 Disputes in the early 1860s......Page 63 Further attempts at national organisation......Page 64 The 1870s—great strides and precipitous decline......Page 65 Patterned tradition of industrial action......Page 68 FORMATION OF THE YORKSHIRE MINERS’ ASSOCIATION; LEADERSHIP......Page 74 The structure and objects of a unified YMA......Page 75 Internal structure of the union......Page 76 Yorkshire’s early leadership......Page 79 Dispute of 1882—emphasis on the need for national action......Page 86 The policy of restriction and the push for further advances......Page 89 Thwarted attempts to gain a rise in 1883......Page 91 YMA on the defensive—1885 wage reduction......Page 94 Market recovery and wage rises towards the end of the decade......Page 97 Push towards a Miners’ Federation......Page 99 County consolidation around the YMA......Page 104 4 TESTING—1893......Page 108 5 FEDERATION ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS OF THE CONCILIATION BOARD, 1894–1906......Page 144 6 WORKER SOLIDARITY AND THE EIGHT-HOUR DAY......Page 164 Grievances and machinery for dealing with them......Page 182 Patterns of strike activity......Page 184 Local variation in frequency of industrial action......Page 188 Variable Levels of militancy......Page 191 Variations in mode of working the coal......Page 194 Initial setting of a price list......Page 196 Necessity for price-list adjustments with changing conditions......Page 198 Disputes owing to conflicting interpretations of price lists......Page 202 The toll of explosions......Page 203 Other causes of injury and death in and about the pit......Page 209 Major technological developments in the mining industry......Page 212 Miners’ responses to technological change......Page 214 Safety lamps......Page 216 Mechanical coal-cutting......Page 219 Riddles......Page 224 The YMA’s general approach to policy on technological matters......Page 226 AGITATION AGAINST NON-UNIONISM......Page 228 Policy on victimisation......Page 229 Recruitment rather than strike action to counter non-unionism......Page 230 Owners’ campaigns against the union......Page 231 Efforts to reduce the number of victims on YMA books......Page 237 RELATIONSHIP OF THE YMA TO LADS AND SURFACE WORKERS......Page 238 Stoppages in 1894 owing to lads and surface workers......Page 239 Negotiations on a uniform wage scale for lads......Page 240 Lads’ grievances—1900–2......Page 242 Orientation toward surface workers......Page 244 Conciliation Board agreements and surface workers’ wages......Page 245 Continuing ambivalence in approach to surface workers......Page 246 TRADITION OF TRADE UNION MILITANCY AND POLITICAL MODERATION......Page 250 Debate pitting trade unionism against Socialism......Page 252 Run-up to the Barnsley by-election......Page 254 Pickard’s intervention through the press......Page 257 Election result......Page 259 The role of James Walsh in the campaign......Page 260 Walsh as no stranger to controversy......Page 261 South Kirkby dispute......Page 264 Walsh: a continuing matter of concern......Page 267 Further tensions within the union......Page 269 Leadership change and an unsettled period for the union......Page 276 Clear movement toward the left......Page 277 10 THE YORKSHIRE COALFIELD AFTER 1900—OPENING UP OF THE DONCASTER AREA......Page 284 11 DENABY-CADEBY STRIKE OF 1902 AND ENSUING LEGAL ACTION......Page 312 12 EVOLVING UNION POLICIES AND POLITICS—HEMSWORTH DISPUTE, 1906......Page 342 13 THE MINIMUM WAGE STRIKE— OPERATION OF THE MINIMUM WAGE ACT......Page 378 14 THE YMA DURING THE WAR......Page 410 15 TOWARDS AN INDUSTRIAL UNION......Page 434 APPENDIX I......Page 446 APPENDIX II......Page 448 APPENDIX III......Page 450 NOTES......Page 452 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 514 INDEX......Page 530 This detailed social history is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners Association in 1881 through the end of the First World War. The period covered is of considerable importance for the consolidation of the Yorkshire Miners Union, and indeed for the building of a national miners federation and an international miners' organisation, in both of which the role of Yorkshire's leadership was central. The decades straddling the turn of the century were characterised by volatility in the mining industry, which was reflected in a number of strikes. This was also the period during which the eight-hour day was established, the issue of the minimum wage was fought out, and the miners turned toward affiliation with the Labour Party. Towards the end of the period, the union made its contribution to the war effort. Carolyn Baylies traces these general processes and focuses in detail upon a number of episodes during which union struggles and community involvement coalesced. She explores the dynamic between district and local levels of the union, and the tensions that accompanied a progressive rationalization of bargaining machinery. While primarily tracing the fortunes and stance of the union, she also situates these in broader accounts of the development of mining communities and of the labour movement