ABSTRACT

At about the same time as participating in the establishment of the Miners’ Federation, the YMA was also involved in other initiatives in worker solidarity. One involved stepping across industrial boundaries through participation in the British Trades Union Congress, and another, crossing national boundaries with the founding of an international miners’ congress. In each case it was district officials and delegates selected from among the executive committee who were most closely involved. As with the MFGB, their contribution there was often substantial. The intricacies of debate in these bodies rarely had a direct effect on the rank and file, but even so the union’s external involvements were integral to its history.1