William Straker was a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 trade unionist.

Born in Snitter

Snitter

 Snitter is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. It is near the Northumberland National Park. The closest town is Rothbury.- Governance :Snitter is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed....

, Straker moved to Widdrington

Widdrington Station and Stobswood

Widdrington Station is a village in the county of Northumberland, England. It has about 2300 residents. As its name suggests it has a railway station which is on the East Coast Main Line. It is located about north east of Morpeth, the county town...

 at an early age and began working at the local colliery. He was a Primitive Methodist, known for his teetotalism

Teetotalism

Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...

. He became active in the Northumberland Miners' Association

Northumberland Miners' Association

The Northumberland Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom.The union was founded in 1864 to represent coal miners in Northumberland, following the collapse of a short-live union covering both Northumberland and Durham miners...

 and was elected to its executive in 1882, then became its Corresponding Secretary in 1905. This post was renamed as the General Secretary in 1913, serving until 1935.

Straker had an unusual set of views. He opposed almost all strike

Strike action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

s, approving only of the 1912 stoppage. Despite his opposition to militancy, he also opposed the expulsion of communists from the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, and he strongly opposed World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, leading some newspapers to campaign for his removal. He was awarded the CBE in 1930.