The National Union of Cokemen and By-product Workers was a trade union representing workers involved in turning coal into coke at collieries in Great Britain.
The union's origins lay in the "National Cokemen and Surface Workers' Union", which was formed by the merger of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire Cokemen and Labourers Union, and the Lancashire Cokemen and Labourers and Local Railway Servants Union in 1911. It originally had 1,225 members, but this rose quickly to reach 2,382 in 1915. In 1916, it merged with the Durham Cokemen and Labourers' Union, to form the "National Union of Cokemen and By-product Workers".Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.2, p.233
The union affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain in 1919. This was reformed as the National Union of Mineworkers in 1945, and the National Union of Cokemen became its Cokemen's Area, with less autonomy than before.
The union was still in existence in 2014, by which time it had just ten members remaining.Trade Union Certification Officer, "Annual return for a trade union: NUM Cokemen's Area" It was finally dissolved in 2022.
Secretaries 1916: James Ogg 1933: Charles Thompson 1946: N. Barker 1960s: 1970s: Harry Close 1980s: Idwal Morgan
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