In March 1858 when the West Yorkshire coal owners implemented a 15% wage cut, the miners at Waterloo came out on strike and were supported by a levy raised from men at nearby pits.
[3] Brown was one of the platform speakers at a large rally of miners on Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, called to protest the lockout.
[4] A few years later, Brown was sacked for his activity on behalf of the West Yorkshire Miners' Association (WYMA).
Unable to find work in the mines, he became a greengrocer, and also earned money as a singer at a Methodist New Connexion chapel.
Some lodges left the federation, but Brown kept the majority of the union together, reorienting it back towards the MNA and strongly criticising the now-disintegrating AAM.