The Cumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom.
The union was founded in 1872 as the West Cumberland Miners' Association, with its aims being the establishment of an eight-hour day, and improved safety. In 1906, it removed "West" from its name.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions Vol. 2, p.198 Never a large organisation, in 1910 it had 6,326 members, based in Whitehaven and Workington.Robert Page Arnot, The Miners: 1889-1910, p.373 Its executive became dominated by the Independent Labour Party, and it thereby came to have considerable influence in elections in the county, with most Labour Party candidates being union members.Duncan Tanner, Political Change and the Labour Party 1900-1918, p.202
In its early years, the union was a member of the Amalgamated Association of Miners;"West Cumberland Miners' Association: Grand Picnic And Demonstration At Maryport, Yesterday", Whitehaven News, 3 July 1873 it later affiliated to the Miners Federation of Great Britain.
In 1945, the CMA became the Cumberland Area of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), with less autonomy than before. By the 1970s, it was the smallest area of the union,Annual Conference 1972, National Union of Mineworkers, p.64 By the end of the miners' strike in 1985, its area contained only one pit and around 150 members.Martin Adeney and John Lloyd, The Miner's Strike 1984-85, p.268 Later in the decade, it merged with the Lancashire Area of the NUM to form the North West Area.
General Secretaries 1872: Andrew Sharp 1916: Thomas Cape c. 1939: Tom Stephenson 1960: Maurice Rowe c. 1975: Harry Hanlon c. 1980: W. S. Proud
See also Cumberland Iron Ore Miners' and Kindred Trades' Association
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