# Miners' International Federation

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.
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.
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.
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