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First published in 1993, The History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881-1918 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 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.
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. This book will be of interest to students of history and sociology.
List of contents
Preface Acknowledgements
1. Opening out of the Yorkshire coalfield
2. Community and combination
3. The Yorkshire Miners' Association during the 1880s
4. Testing - 1893
5. Federation activities and operations of the conciliation board, 1894-1906
6. Worker solidarity and the eight-hour day
7. The union at branch and district levels; grievances and industrial action
8. Scope of union membership
9. Politics and the YMA - the Barnsley by-election of 1897
10. The Yorkshire coalfield after 1900 - Opening up of the Doncaster area
11. Denaby - Cadeby strike of 1902 and ensuing legal action
12. Evolving union policies and politics - Hemsworth dispute, 1906
13. The minimum wage strike - Operation of the Minimum Wage Act
14. The YMA during the War
15. Towards an industrial union
Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III Notes Bibliography Index
About the author
Carolyn Baylies
Summary
First published in 1993, The History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881-1918 is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities.
