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This article examines in what sense the decline of the coal industry contributed to the emergence of a debate about the genesis, shape und future of ‘Britishness’ in the 1990s and early 2000s. Taking a discourse-analytical approach, it argues that the decline of the coal industry contributed to bringing about the debate in two ways: firstly, by feeding into popular narratives of national decline and renewal, it helped to provide the debate’s intellectual background. Secondly, the political cleavages of the 1980s and 1990s between Old Labour, Thatcherism and New Labour elevated the coal industry to a contested symbol for a way of life and a political orientation. These differing interpretations, in return, were associated with a particularly British social reality, a self-conception of the British nation that was embedded in the London-centric political and cultural discourse. Changes to this self-narration required an explanation, which various contributions to the discussion of ‘Britishness’ in politics and popular culture sought to provide in the 1990s and early 2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 1918, the British coal industry, like all industries, was facing the pressures of transitioning from a wartime to a peacetime economy. The pressures brought by a slowing economy would leave many coal miners, who possessed limited transferrable skills, harbouring deep concerns about their future employment. For those still in employment, concerns were increasing for workers’ health. Sharp increases in respiratory illnesses across the nation’s coalfields were now a major cause of disablement. Accompanying this was the almost inevitable possibility of unemployment, prompting major concerns among workers and trade unions. This article will explore how the nature of industrial relations across Britain’s coalfields changed during the interwar years in response to these challenges, and reveals how the government developed schemes to train disabled coal miners for work in other industries. The relationship between trade unions and the Ministry of Labour, and the incremental passage of legislation to address issues concerning workers’ occupational health in Britain’s coal mines will be examined. The onset of the Second World War ensured the coal industry was now central to the war effort. Recruitment was intensified accordingly. The improvement to working conditions underground, negotiated by trade unions, helped ensure that the workforce and the coal industry more generally were well-prepared for the challenges of the post-First World War economy, and the difficulties the Second World War would bring. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the extraordinary political swing that occurred in the Durham coalfield in the 1931 general election. Having won all eleven county seats in 1929, Labour lost all but two in 1931. This was despite the dominance of the coal industry, the strength of the miners' union, and the increasing pre-eminence of Durham's Labour organization. While the circumstances of the election certainly motivated a traditional anti-socialist base, the article suggests that previous explanations have failed to acknowledge the extent to which mining constituents may also have been responsible for the result. Rather than any uniform political identity amongst the mining community, it finds that allegiances were fluid and complex, swayed by factors such as political charisma (particularly with regard to Ramsay MacDonald, re-elected at Seaham), specific local concerns, and paternalistic loyalties. In doing so, it reveals the fragility of the Labour Party's appeal even amongst its 'core' supporters. The National success in 1931 demonstrated that Labour's dominance in Durham remained recent, limited and as yet provisional, a finding that has significant implications for the wider picture of Labour's national advance, revealing that Labour's progress in the inter-war years was conditional and erratic even in its most 'natural' strongholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the labor strategy of Great Britain-based British Coal Corp. for the institutionalization of the proposed conciliation scheme formulated to take into account the emergence of the coal miners' trade unions. Examination of the industrial relations since 1985; Effect of the division of the workforce; Problem with the degree of recognition offered to the trade unions; Use of a conciliation and consultation machinery.

Examines certain aspects of the impact of nationalization on industrial relations in the British coal mining sector. Industrial relations in coal mining; Grievance procedure for mineworkers; Complaints of mineworkers against management and their own union; National Union of Mineworkers leadership complaints against National Coal Board (NCB) officials; Complaints of the NCB against union officials and local militants.

Focuses the unionization of the coal miners during the industrial revolution in Great Britain. Alteration of relations between workers and employers and the means of production; Viability and feasibility of unions plans; Impact of the successful industry-wide strike.

This article focuses on militancy among the British coalminers during 1890-1914. The formation of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain in 1889 marked the opening of a new phase of militancy among the British coalminers. After the collapse of the Miners' Association of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840's the policy of the miners' unions became increasingly dominated by Alexander Macdonald and the Miners' National Union formed in 1863. The Miners' National Union placed considerable emphasis on securing an adequate standard of living by means of legislative regulation of conditions of work. It also favored conciliation as a means of determining wages. It was dissatisfaction with the results of these policies which led to the growth of militancy, particularly in the central coalfields. Between 1888 and 1890, a period of growing demand and rising prices, wage rates were, increased by 40 per cent. Half of this increase was obtained before the formation of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain but the coalfields which led the wage movement were also prominent in the formation of the Federation and the same policy was pursued until 1890.