The History of the Yorkshire Miners, 1881-1918

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