There had been several attempts to form a national union of miners in Scotland. The Scottish Coal and Iron Miners' Association, formed in 1855, organised a strike of 30,000 miners against a reduction in their wages, but the dispute was lost and the union dissolved soon after. The Scottish Coal and Iron-stone Miners' Protective Association was also formed in 1855 by various local unions, and was led by Alexander Macdonald; although this was also badly affected by the lost strike, it survived to reform as the Scottish Miners' Amalgamated Society in 1859, but achieved little as each union acted separately, and dissolved in 1863, by which time it had only 1,500 members.^[3]

The Scottish Miners' Association was formed in 1872, with MacDonald as its secretary and treasurer. It worked closely with the Miners' National Union in England and Wales, and found immediate success, almost tripling pay while also reducing the output of the coal mines. However, a major strike from May to June 1874 used up all the union's reserve funds, and it thereafter achieved little.^[4] It went bankrupt in 1882, due to a strike begun in the previous year.^[5]

In 1886, Keir Hardie founded the Scottish Miners' National Federation. This was based on the Ayrshire Miners' Union, but initially had a total of 23,570 members in 26 districts. Hardie became its secretary and, through it newspaper, The Miner, he campaigned for the nationalisation of the coal mines, a minimum wage and a five-day week. Although its membership dropped rapidly, forcing it to dissolve in 1888, several of its districts survived as independent unions.^[6]

The union was founded in 1894, as the Scottish Miners Federation (SMF). It initially brought together seven county unions,^[7] with others joining soon after. It initially had 35,900 members.^[8]

The unions which constituted the early federation were:

The union immediately organised a strike for better pay and conditions. It also joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and this led to conflict. The SMF president, Robert Smillie, agreed to follow English unions in accepting wage reductions, against the wishes of secretary Chisholm Robertson and leading activist Shaw Maxwell.^[10]

Although the early strike was lost, the federation continued, with membership reduced to under 16,000, and particularly few members in Lanarkshire. However, by the end of the decade it had regained members and, as coal prices rose, the union was able to win more of its demands.^[10] The SMF became known as a strong supporter of socialism.^[10]

By 1914, membership had risen to around 82,000, with half in Lanarkshire, one quarter in Fife and Kinross, an eighth in Ayrshire, and most of the remainder in Mid and East Lothian.^[11] The union adopted a new structure, with less autonomy for its affiliates, and was renamed the "National Union of Scottish Mineworkers".^[12] In 1929, a group of left-wingers, mostly linked with the Communist Party of Great Britain, left to form the rival United Mineworkers of Scotland. This initially saw some success, but they rejoined in 1936.^[13]

In 1944, the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers. The NUSW became its Scottish Area, with less autonomy than before.^[14]

By 2014, the union had only 35 members remaining.^[15] It was dissolved in 2018.^[16]

1894: Chisholm Robertson

1896?: Robert Brown

1917: James Brown

1918: Robert Smith

1927: William Allan

1929: Robert Smith

1934: James Brown

1936: Alexander Sloan

1940: James Cook

1945: William Pearson

1956: John Wood

1965: Lawrence Daly

1969: Bill McLean

1977: Eric Clarke

1989: Nicky Wilson

1894: Robert Smillie

1918: John Robertson

1920: Hugh Murnin

1922: Robert Smillie

1929: James Doonan

1932: Andrew Clarke

1942: Abe Moffat

1961: Alex Moffat

1967: Mick McGahey

1987: George Bolton