Durham Miners' Association

Headquarters of the Durham Miners' Association

The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) is a trade union in the United Kingdom.

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

General Secretaries

1869: John Richardson

1870: A. Cairns

1871: William Crawford

1890: William Hammond Patterson

1896: John Wilson

1915: Thomas Cann

1924: W. P. Richardson

1930: Peter Lee

1935: John Swan

1945: Sam Watson

1963: Alfred Hesler

1979: Tom Callan

1985?: David Hopper

Presidents

1869: William Crake

1870: William Crawford

1871: John Forman

1900: William House

1917: James Robson

1920s: James Gilliland

1980s: Harold Mitchell

2000s: David Guy

Treasurers

1869: Nicholas Wilkinson

1882: John Wilson

1886: William Hammond Patterson

1890: John Johnson

1896: Thomas Cann

1920s: Thomas Trotter

1930s: Sam Watson

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sidney Webb, The Story of the Durham Miners
2. ↑ DMA website