Complex sentence: Hodge helped form the British Steel Smelters' Association, which he was elected secretary, in 1885 because their bosses at Colville Works in Motherwell had informed them that their wages would be twenty per cent lower than before.
Split into simpler sentences: Hodge helped form the British Steel Smelters' Association in 1885, of which he would be elected secretary, because their bosses at Colville. They were informed by works in Motherwell that their wages would be twenty per cent lower than before.