Abe Moffat

He held major union offices: President of the National Union of Scottish Mine Workers; member of the executive committee of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain; Vice-chairman Scottish Regional Coal Board; and member National Coal Board.

[1] He served as president of the union from 1942 to his retirement in 1961, when he was succeeded by his younger brother Alex Moffat, also an activist.

Joining the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1922, Abe Moffat was active in a variety of ways.

He was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union, becoming its general secretary in 1931.

[3] He left school at the age of fourteen to work at the local coal mine, while spending his spare time competing in middle-distance athletics.

[2] Inspired by John Maclean and Bob Stewart, in 1922 he joined the recently founded Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).

[2] Due to his leadership in a dispute over payment systems, Moffat was appointed as a full-time official of the United Mineworkers of Scotland, a communist union.

[2] The union was struggling to survive, and Moffat rose quickly to become its general secretary in 1931, serving until it was dissolved in 1935.

[2] The dissolution of the United Mineworkers left Moffat out of work again, but he was elected to Fife County Council in Valleyfield and Blairhall in 1938.

He used the post to advocate increased output during World War II, and was re-elected in 1944 with a large majority over Hugh Brannan.

[8] When the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was formed in 1945, Moffat was elected to its executive, serving until his retirement.