ABSTRACT
Railway Trade Unionism has a continuous history of nearly 70 years, but only within the last 20 years or so has it become a really effective force. The Railway Clerks’ Association caters for all grades of salaried railway employees—clerks, station-masters and agents, controllers, inspectors, foremen, draughtsmen, chemists and other technical staff. The growth in membership and particularly in moral was accelerated during the Great War, and with this growth the Railway Companies gradually, but with manifest reluctance, conceded Trade Union recognition. Of the 130 odd railways of pre-war days, each had its own rates of pay and conditions of service and as regards some sections of employees, its Own designations of the different grades. The railway industry is highly centralised, and, as has been mentioned, all wages and general service conditions are settled by national negotiations between the companies and the Unions.
