Federation of Professional Railway Staff explained

The Federation of Professional Railway Staff was a trade union in the United Kingdom.

The union was founded in 1983 by former members of the National Union of Railwaymen and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen who were opposed to the 1982 British Rail strike and also to closed shop agreements. It aimed to secure recognition from British Rail, but was unable to do so.^{[1] [2]} Members of the union were involved in driving coal trains during the UK miners' strike of 1984 to 1985, when other rail unions asked their members not to do so.^[3]

Membership still stood at 200 in 2004,^[4] but had fallen to only 33 in 2015,^[5] and it dissolved that year.

General Secretaries

to 2006: J. Gedrose

2006: Lester E. Fuller

2015: Kathleen Carroll

References

1. Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.3, p.164
2. Tadashi Hanami and Roger Blanpain, Industrial conflict resolution in market economies, p.119
3. David Reed and Olivia Adamson, Miners strike, 1984-1985: people versus state, p.85
4. John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical Directory of British Trade Unions, vol.6, p.176
5. Web site: Annual Return for a Trade Union: Federation of Professional Railway Staff. Certification Officer. UK Government. 7 March 2018.