The Railwaymen

Volume 1: The History of the National Union of Railwaymen

Philip S. Bagwell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781032414645
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000820492
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: Business

Originally published in 1963, The Railwaymen recounts the struggle of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants from its foundation in 1872 until the first national railway strike in 1911 to gain recognition from the companies and a reduction in the excessive hours of labour and the scandalously high accident rate among railwaymen. Two chapters recall the decisive role of the union, through the Taff Vale and Osborne cases in shaping the modern labour movement. Founded through the merging of three unions in 1913, the NUR crossed swords with Lloyd George in the railway strike of 1919 and with Baldwin and Churchill in the general strike. It led the railwaymen through two world wars, helped shape the transport act of 1947 and, after 1951, thought for the re-establishment of an adequate system of public transport.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• I Before the Days of the Union
• II The Foundation of the A.S.R.S.
• III The Struggle for Survival
• IV A Chapter of Accidents
• V 1887–91—The Fight for the First National Programme
• VI Inquest on Overwork
• VII The All-Grades Campaign of 1897
• VIII The A.S.R.S. and the Labour Party: Taff Vale
• IX The A.S.R.S. and the Labour Party: The Osborne Case
• X The All-Grades Movement of 1906–7 and its Outcome
• XI The Railway Conciliation Scheme of 1907
• XII 1911—The First National Railway Strike
• XIII The Foundation of the N.U.R.
• XIV The First World War
• XV 1919—The ‘Definitive’ Strike
• XVI The Railways Act, 1921
• XVII The Railwaymen and the Miners—The General Strike
• XVIII 1927–33: Backs to the Wall
• XIX Uncertain Recovery, 1934–9
• XX The Second World War, 1939–45
• XXI The Labour Government and the Transport Act
• XXII The Transport Act 1953 and its Aftermath
• Appendix A. Railwaymen and Working-Class Education, by Frank Moxley, editor of the Railway Review.
• Appendix B. General Secretaries and Presidents of the Union.
• Appendix C. Table of Membership and Funds.
• Select Bibliography
• Index