Union of Democratic Mineworkers

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**UDM**
Union of Democratic Mineworkers
Founded	11 December 1984
Country	United Kingdom
Office location	Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England

The Union of Democratic Mineworkers is a British trade union for coal miners, which is based in Nottinghamshire, England. It was provisionally established on the 11 December 1984 during the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) by miners who wished to defy the strike call without a national ballot of the National Union of Mineworkers, and its leader, Arthur Scargill. In its defence, the UDM pointed to Scargill's refusal to call a ballot on strike action and to the widespread opposition to the strike which existed in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Even throughout the strike, the UDM maintained the NUM's overtime ban, as this had been constitutionally called.

Outside Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire; however, the union was widely regarded as strike-breaking association and was greeted with hostility and resentment by the strikers and by the labour movement in general.

Initially, the Nottinghamshire miners organisation remained within the NUM. This was possible due to the federal structure of the national union that granted a great deal of autonomy to its regional organisations. During the strike, despite attempts from Arthur Scargill to postpone area elections (he was thwarted in the courts) the Notts. NUM elected officers almost exclusively from the "working" miners. These officers included Roy Lynk - later to be rewarded with an OBE - and Neil Greatrex, the current General Secretary of the UDM.

The UDM was widely criticised in March 2004 after it was revealed that its top two officials received pay and benefits of over £150,000 each, despite membership having fallen to 1,431.^[1] The union's relationship to Vendside, a firm which specialises in obtaining compensation from the British Government for former miners suffering from mining-related ailments, has also been widely criticised.