List of American railway unions explained

The following is a list of unions and brotherhoods playing a significant role in the railroad industry of the United States of America. Many of these entities changed names and merged over the years; this list is based upon the names current during the height of American railway unionism in the first decades of the 20th century.

Brotherhoods

See main article: Railroad brotherhoods.

"Big Four" brotherhoods

Originating as fraternal benefit societies to provide life insurance, sickness benefits, and social interaction for their members, the so-called "Big Four" railroad brotherhoods gradually evolved into trade unions dealing with wages, hours, and safety standards. As the importance of the railway sector to the American economy grew during the last years of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century, these emerged as among the most powerful group of unions in the United States.[1] In the summer of 1916, the joint threat of the so-called "Big Four" brotherhoods to launch a national railroad strike moved President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress to pass the Adamson Act, granting an 8-hour working day to American railway workers.

Other railroad brotherhoods and unions

Unions for African-American railway workers

Owing to the segregation of the railroad brotherhoods for much of their history, a parallel network of unions emerged to serve the interests of black railway workers.

Industrial unions

General unions

Although not limited in scope to workers on the railroads, these unions included among their members substantial contingents of railway employees.

Railroad Worker Grass Roots Organizations

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Paul Michel Taillon, Good, Reliable, White Men: Railroad Brotherhoods, 1877–1917. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2009; pg. 3.
  2. "Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 105.
  3. Constance Bulkley (ed.), "Guide to the Order Of Railway Conductors And Brakemen Records, 1868–1969," Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 2002.
  4. "Order of Railway Conductors of America," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 105.
  5. Connie Bulkley and Carol Eastman (eds.), "Guide to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen Records, 1873–1975," Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 2002.
  6. D.B. Robertson, "Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen: A Brief Narrative Telling the Story of the Founding of the Institution and a Brief Historical Outline of Its Growth and Development...," in Fiftieth Anniversary B of LF&E, 1873–1923. [no city]: Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, 1923; pg. 15.
  7. "Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 106.
  8. "Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen" in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pp. 107–108.
  9. Ad for Grand International Union of Locomotive Firemen, Locomotive Engineer's Journal, vol. 11, no. 1 (Jan. 1877), pg. 46.
  10. "Order of Railroad Telegraphers," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pp. 108–109.
  11. "United Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Railway Shop Laborers," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 108.
  12. "Switchmen's Union of North America," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 109.
  13. "Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen of America," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 109.
  14. Taillon, Good, Reliable, White Men, pg. 165.
  15. "Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters," in Solon DeLeon and Nathan Fine (eds.), The American Labor Year Book, 1926. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1926; pg. 113.