The Miners' International Federation (MIF), sometimes known as the International Federation of Miners, was a global union federation of trade unions.
History Wirtz (1962) documented that the Miners International Federation (MIF) 'had its origin in a series of four international workers' congresses which met between 1883 and 1889 in Paris and London.' The MIF was subsequently established in 1890 at a four-day event that was held in Jolimont, Belgium, which was attended by 111 representatives of miners' organizations from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The subsequent congresses which were held annually until 1900 were representative of the five countries that had sent delegates to the first congress.Wirtz, p.5.
The MIF was initially one of the largest union federations, with membership reaching 1.2 million in 1913, and this grew slightly to 1.5 million in 1931.James C. Docherty and Sjaak van der Velden, Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor, pp.183
From the 1950s, the MIF began to campaign for common international minimum working conditions. However, with reductions in the number of miners in its heartland of Western Europe, its overall membership began to fall, and was below one million by 1976.
The union was based in London for many years, with the British National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as its largest affiliate. In 1983, Arthur Scargill, leader of the NUM, proposed dissolving the federation and forming a new one with the World Federation of Trade Unions-affiliated Trade Unions International of Miners. This was opposed by a majority of members, but the NUM nevertheless withdrew, leaving the federation to relocate its headquarters to Brussels and struggle with a shortage of funds.Ronald Payne and Gary Busch, "Scargill goes international", The Spectator, 30 November 1985
The MIF began recruiting unions in other parts of the world, and by 1994 consisted of 58 unions with 4.2 million members. In 1995, it merged with the International Federation of Chemical and General Workers' Unions to form the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions.
Affiliates In 1960, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
Union Country Affiliated membership All Japan Federation of Metal Miners' Unions Japan 57,000 Associated Mineworkers of Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia 1,000 Confederation of Copper Workers Chile 24,000 Cyprus Federation of Free Miners Cyprus 1,530 Federation of Miners of Greece Greece 30,000 Federation of Mine Workers Tunisia 6,125 Free Italian Federation of Workers in Mining Industries Italy 12,656 General Dutch Industrial Union of the Mining Industry Netherlands 3,000 General Union of Spanish Workers Spain Unknown Ghana Mine Workers' Union Ghana 40,000 Indian National Mineworkers' Federation India 150,000 Japan Coal Miners' Union Japan 200,441 Korean Mine Workers' Federation South Korea 28,246 Luxembourg Workers' Federation Luxembourg 2,000 Manpower Citizens' Association British Guiana 2,000 Miners' Federation France 21,000 National Coal Mine Workers' Union Japan 75,000 National Mines and Allied Workers' Union Philippines 3,000 National Union of Mine and Quarry Workers Italy 14,610 National Union of Mineworkers United Kingdom 675,000 Nigerian Mineworkers' Federation Nigeria 10,000 Northern Rhodesian African Mineworkers' Union Northern Rhodesia 36,000 Northern Rhodesia Mine Workers' Union Northern Rhodesia 4,500 Norwegian Union of General Workers Norway 6,000 Suriname Mine Workers' Union Suriname 80 Swedish Miners' Union Sweden 14,000 Tanganyika Mine Workers' Union Tanganyika 1,000 Union of Metal, Mining and Energy Austria 25,000 Union of Mineworkers of Belgium Belgium 36,000 United Mine Workers of America United States 600,000 United Mineworkers of New Zealand New Zealand 3,320 United Mineworkers of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone 5,500 Union of Mining and Energy West Germany 461,674 Union of Mining, Metallurgical and Chemical Workers Yugoslavia 95,000
Leadership Secretaries 1890: Thomas Ashton 1921: Frank Hodges 1927: Achille Delattre 1934: Ebby Edwards 1947: Will Lawther 1957: Ernest Jones 1960: Ted Jones 1963: Dennis Edwards 1976: Peter Tait 1984: Jan Olyslaegers 1989: Peter Michalzik
Presidents 1910s: Robert Smillie 1921: Herbert Smith 1929: Joseph Dejardin 1932: Fritz Husemann 1934: Pierre Vigne 1945: Achille Delattre 1954: Heinrich Imig 1956: Nicolas Dethier 1963: Heinrich Gutermuth 1967: Walter Arendt 1969: 1971: Adolf Schmidt 1984: Anders Stendalen
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