Alwyn Machen

Alwyn Machen (1901–1 March 1960) was a British trade union leader.

Born into a coal mining family in Derbyshire, Machen left school and began working as a coal miner at the age of thirteen.^[1] He continued his education at the Chesterfield Labour College, and soon began to lecture personally at the college. He joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), and through this role, helped organise a major demonstration in London in 1925, where he heard Herbert Smith and A. J. Cook speak, becoming a supporter of the two miners' leaders.^[2]

Following the UK general strike, Machen struggled to find work, but eventually gained employment at a colliery in Thorne in Yorkshire.^[2] There, he joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), and rapidly rose through its ranks, first within his local union branch,^[1] then in 1945 becoming the regional Compensation Agent. In this role, he became well-known, and wrote a book on the Industrial Injuries Act.^[2] In 1952, he was elected as President of the Yorkshire Miners' Association.^[1]

A member of the Labour Party, Machen was elected as a councillor on the West Riding of Yorkshire County Council, and also on Thorne Rural District Council.^[3]

Machen first stood for the post of President of the National Union of Mineworkers (successor to the MFGB) in 1945, coming second to Will Lawther.^[2] He stood again in 1960, but died suddenly at the start of March. The count for the presidential election was completed a few days later, showing that he had been posthumously elected to the position.^[3]

References

1 2 3 Labour Monthly, vol.42 (1960), p.180
1 2 3 4 Vin Williams, "Miners' Champion", The Plebs, Vols.51-52, p.81
1 2 Report of the 59th Annual Conference (1960), p.53

Trade union offices
Preceded by Joe Hall	President of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers 1952–1960	Succeeded by Sam Bullough
Preceded by Ernest Jones	President of the National Union of Mineworkers 1960	Succeeded by Sidney Ford

Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)

Presidents	1889 Pickard 1904 Enoch Edwards 1912 Smillie 1922 Smith 1929 Richards 1931 Ebby Edwards 1932 Lee 1934 J. Jones 1939 Lawther 1954 Ernest Jones 1960 Machen 1960 Ford 1971 Gormley 1982 Scargill 2002 Lavery 2012 Wilson

Vice-Presidents	1889 Woods 1909 Smillie 1912 Harvey 1914 House 1917 Smith 1922 Walsh 1924 Richards 1929 Ebby Edwards 1931 Lee 1932 J. Jones 1933 Davies 1934 Lawther 1939 Bowman 1950 Ernest Jones 1954 Edward Jones 1960 Collindridge 1963 Bullough 1969 Schofield 1973 McGahey 1987 Thompson 1989 Vacant 1992 Cave 2002 Stanley 2010 Wilson 2012 Thomas

General Secretaries	1889 Ashton 1919 Hodges 1924 Cook 1932 Ebby Edwards 1946 Horner 1959 Paynter 1968 Daly 1984 Heathfield 1992 Scargill 1992 Vacant? 2002 Kemp 2007 Kitchen

Treasurers	1889 Enoch Edwards 1904 Abraham 1918 Robson 1921 Richardson

MFGB affiliates	Bristol Cleveland Cokemen Cumberland Derbyshire Durham Forest of Dean Kent Lancashire and Cheshire Leicestershire Midland Counties Northumberland North Wales Nottinghamshire Scotland (Ayrshire Fife and Kinross Lanarkshire Mid and East Lothian Mid and West Lothian Stirling) Somerset South Derbyshire South Wales Yorkshire

Strikes	1893 1912 1926 1969 1972 1974 1984–1985

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