The pamphlet was written by the 'Unofficial Reform Committee' a group of syndicalist and socialists involved in the Plebs' League and the Cambrian Combine strike of 1910-11.
On his return to Rhondda, Ablett found himself in connection with like-minded socialists William Mainwaring, Noah Rees, Will Hay and A.J.
[2] In 1911 the Cambrian Combine dispute ended with the Tonypandy Riot, which in turn caused ill feelings towards the then Liberal government after Home Secretary Winston Churchill ordered the deployment of the British Army to suppress the workers.
[3][4] The Miners' Next Step was a sustained critique of the style of union leadership shown by the likes of William "Mabon" Abraham who had been seen as too liberal in his dealings with the coalowners during such disputes as the Welsh coal strike of 1898.
[7] Sociologist Hilary Wainwright stated that the pamphlet put "the stress on trade union members as independent thinkers rather than 'the masses'," and that an "understanding of collectivity as relationships between individuals as creative social subjects underpinned their concept of solidarity.