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The railroad labor dispute over work rules was initiated on November 2, 1959 when the railroads submitted a series of proposals to the five railroad operating labor organizations. The proposals were concerned with the use of firemen on diesels, the basis of pay, the assignment of employees, and the consist of crews. On November 2, 1963, a special railroad arbitration board completed hearings on two issues-the firemen and new consist questions-and issued its award on November 26, 1963. The remaining issues, including proposals of the railroad labor organizations, were tentatively settled on April 22, 1964, subject to ratification procedures of the unions, by mediation under the supervision of the office of the President of the United States. The award of the special arbitration board, which was challenged in the courts by the labor organizations, was upheld by the federal courts, the Supreme Court denying certiorari on April 27, 1964. The purpose of this article is (1) to describe the process of "maneuver" and "improvisation"; (2) to analyze why the procedures, both under the Railway Labor Act and ad hoc boards, have failed; and (3) to discuss the problem of governmental intervention in labor disputes. In view of the fact that this article is not concerned with the merits of the dispute, it is sufficient to state simply that the issues in the dispute are concerned with various aspects of the employment of firemen in freight and yard service, the consist of crews, interdivisional runs, combination of road and yard service, manning of self propelled machines, wage structure and fringe benefits, employment security, and training.

This article brings up to date. the experience of the National Railroad Adjustment Board in the performance of its function of arbitrating disputes arising under agreements between the carriers and the operating employees' unions. Since the various studies made about ten years ago (one of which was published in this journal), there have been several significant new developments in NRAB procedures and practices. Although this article reveals a number of procedural aspects that seem to hamper NRAB effectiveness, the author's view is that reforms in the grievance machinery must first occur at the earlier stages through voluntary changes effected by the carriers and the unions. This article is a modification, of a report by the author to the Presidential Railroad Commission during its study of railroad labor problems. Statistical material was obtained for the most part from the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board. The views expressed and the use made of the statistics are the responsibility of the author and do not reflect the views of the Presidential Railroad Commission or the National Railroad Adjustment Board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this, the second of two articles on the National Railroad Adjustment Board (the first appeared in the April 1952 issue of this Review), the content, enforcement, and judicial review of NRAB awards are discussed. Recommendations are presented by the authors for improvement of Adjustment Board procedures. A brief analysis of grievance adjustment in air transportation is also included. Based on material originally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolution of written work rules on the railroads in Mexico from 1883 to 1923, looking at three sets of work rules from the Porfiriato and three from the Revolution. Just as foreign investors, British and American, and foreign skilled workers, mostly American, played an important role in the establishment of Mexico’s first railroad companies, these same foreign businesses brought their written rule books, necessary for the impersonal management of labor in companies with large, diverse, and a far-flung labor force like the railroads, to Mexico. The first rules are often Spanish translations of the English-language originals and paid no attention to the workers’ opinions. Through the Porfiriato, however, Mexican railroad workers unionized, in part following the pattern of the American Brotherhoods, and their unions, through labor activism and strikes, fought to transform work rules from company commands to negotiated terrain, with some success before the Revolution broke out. When the Revolution did break out, however, it radically transformed the terrain of work rules, first because railroad companies, even before they collapsed in the face of revolutionary violence, lost the support of the state that they so needed to impose their work rules, and second, because the new state that emerged from the Revolution allied with organized workers to provide them with many of their revolutionary demands: legal trade unions, mandated work benefits, and collective bargaining. Thus, newly powerful railroad unions through strikes and activism and in alliance with the new state made work rules not only negotiated terrain between companies and workers, but terrain in which workers and their unions held the upper hand. As a consequence, the work rules of 1923, where unions are powerful and impose significant benefits to workers, bear little resemblance to those of 1883, where unions are not recognized by the companies, which felt no obligation to provide any benefits at all. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the effects of the change in the voting procedures for representation elections of the U.S. National Mediation Board, which will add a "No" option, and provide that the majority of vote-cast will determine the result of an election starting on July 1, 2010. It examines the historical significance and purpose of U.S. Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the impact of the RLA amendment on the airline union certification activities.

During the late 1940s, a strike wave swept through the African continent. In the Sudan, the Workers' Affairs Association (WAA) orchestrated a series of strikes by railway workers throughout 1947 and 1948. The strikes were well organised and well supported, with the majority of the Sudan's 20,000 railway employees participating in the protests. The unrest, which was led by workers operating in a key sector of the economy, provoked fears among British officials that the strikes would be transformed into a broader anti-colonial protest. This article focuses on the British response to the emergence of organised labour activism, examining how tensions within Sudan government undermined the authorities' efforts to manage the industrial unrest. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper concerns three significant aspects of twentieth-century history in both Australia and Britain: trade unions, railways and war. During the world wars trade unionists in both countries worked under poor conditions, and sometimes endured the loss of hard-won privileges in order to further the war effort, and in the hope that governments and employers would acknowledge their sacrifices and redress their grievances once peace was restored. The paper discusses two instances, one in Western Australia and one in Britain, where these grievances were not addressed after the war, and examines the different outcomes. After comparing the circumstances in which the Australian Standard Garratt and the WD 'Austerity' heavy freight locomotives were produced, it explores the problems with these engines and the outcomes arising from union grievances. Finally, the paper posits that studying the outcomes of these industrial disputes on the railways, arising out of wartime conditions, furthers our understanding of the stresses of war on society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on railway company accidents, consideration is given to the rationale behind the judicial doctrine of 'common employment', and the defences of 'assumption of risk' and 'contributory negligence', used to bar victims from receiving legal reparation. Evidence suggests that it was not until 1897 when the Workmen's Compensation Act abandoned the 'fault' principle that the majority of accident victims were able to claim compensation. This article considers the railways' response to workplace accidents and the classification of workplace victims under the headings of 'misconduct, want of caution or causes beyond their control'. It rejects the recent criticism of the 1897 Act, in particular the argument that unlimited employer liability would have been more beneficial in terms of safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Mutualism, Friendly Societies, and The Genesis of Railway Trade Unions' proposes a revised view of the origins of trade unions to account for their friendly society-like inception. Taking as its subject the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS), it demonstrates how railway company friendly societies established a model which the ASRS followed. Based on railway company documents and records of the trade union, the article shows how the institutional structure and mutualist ideology of the friendly societies shaped the union in the 1870s, its first decade. The wider significance of this article is its exposition of the theory of mutualism to explain periods of relative calm in labour relations and its call for further research into the history of friendly societies and labour relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the intervention of the government in Railtrack, a private company that owns a network of railroad tracks and stations in Great Britain. Arguments on the intervention of the government; Effects on the preoccupation of Railtrack; Conflict between the government and trade-unions.

This article examines the way in which railway employment and urban life have led to the development of a unique identity among the railway workers of Atbara, headquarters of the Sudan Railways. During the period covered by this article, Atbara's railway men formed the core of the Sudanese working class and inaugurated one of the best and most dynamic labor movements in Africa and the Middle East. As many scholars have noted, the development of labor activism, solidarity, and strong social bonds are among the most important characteristics of railway workers worldwide. This article argues that the development of these attributes were closely associated with the nature of railway employment, which involved intensive socialization and acculturation into the norms of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses historical issues on racism, railroad unions and labor regulations in the United States. Origins of the conflicts between African Americans and railroad unions; Early discriminatory railroad legislation; World War I and federal intervention in the railroad labor market; Labor injunction; Railway labor act and downfall of African American railroad workers; Long-term effects of the railway labor act.

Focuses on the relationship between the struggle for independence and the emergence of labor militancy in Malawi by examining the history of trade unionism among the country's rail workers. Effect of the emergence of mass nationalism under the leadership of the Malawi Congress Party to proletarian consciousness; Labor unrest; Power exerted by laborers in any reorganization of Malawi's political environment.

Examines the reconstruction of labor-management relations in Japan National Railways (JNR). Three main labor unions in JNR; Restructuring of the JNR; Kokuro labor union's dispute with the Japan Railways Group; Union rivalries.

Examines the relationship between union and organizational commitment among railroad employees in the United States. Employee attitudes and work-related perceptions; Decline of union representation in the United States; Nature of dual commitment; Utilization of a taxonomic approach.

Reports that 1995 marks the 40th anniversary of the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations into a single entity. How unions continue to merge to face challenges and economic uncertainties; Mergers after 1984; Mergers among railroad unions; Affiliations and disaffiliations; Possible mergers.

By the 1920s, the atrophy of such organizations as the Industrial Workers of the World and the Knights of Labor as well as the loss of trade-union affiliates in Mexico and elsewhere had reduced the boundaries of the American labor movement to the United States and Canada. One of the chapters in this history of international labor intervention involved the American Railroad Brotherhoods in Mexico from 1880-1912. On the one hand, the manner in which American labor organizations enlarged their jurisdictions internationally is important for a fuller understanding of the dynamics of union growth. On the other hand, unlike those sections in Canada, the Mexican affiliates proved unsuccessful in the long run, though many were in continuous existence for nearly thirty years. The development of the Mexican railroads began in 1837 with the granting of a concession by the government for a line between Vera Cruz and Mexico City. Attracted by subsidies and direct grants totaling millions of dollars, American promoters in 1880 began construction of three major trunk lines and a host of local feeder systems.

This article focuses on Eugene Debs' views on the social democracy. On June 15, 1897, the American Railway Union (A.R.U.) assembled for its last convention. To this convention came also a wide variety of reformers interested in turning it into a vehicle of social reform. Eugene Debs hoped the convention could give focus in some way to his declaration for socialism, made officially to A.R.U. members in the Railway Times, January 1, 1897. Times, January 1, 1897. The A.R.U. voted to dissolve itself and, after rejecting a proposal of the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth to join in their plan to establish a colony in some western state, officially disbanded and formed the Social Democracy of America (S.D.A.), with a platform calling for the "conquering of capitalism by making use of our political liberty and by taking possession of the public power." Historians have emphasized the colony aspect of the S.D.A. and de-emphasized its political program. Professor Bernard Brommel, in his recent article "Deb's Cooperative Commonwealth Plan for Workers," although attempting to clear up the issue, only confuses it. Professor Brommel, in a biographical sketch of Debs, attempts to explain Debs's idea of the colony, the problems he encountered within the Social Democracy, and the reason he abandoned the idea.

The article discusses the early 20th-century history of railway unions in Queensland, amalgamated in 1920 into the Australian Railways Union (ARU), from the perspective of three former union officials: Ernie Sampson, George Rymer, and William Morrow. Excerpts from interviews with the men are presented, addressing topics such as railroad construction, working conditions, left-wing union militancy, strikes and other labor actions, relations with the Australian Labor Party, and related labor issues.

The article focuses on labor protests in Sierra Leone during the years between World War I and World War II. Protests related to economic unrest following World War I, the strike by African members of the Railway Department in 1926, and the development of the Sierra Leone Youth League during the late 1930s are discussed. Strikes related to pay rates among laborers, the effects of World War I on the economy of Sierra Leone, and government responses to strikes are examined. The article also explores the actions of the Railway Workers' Union, the effects of the Great Depression on the colony's economy, and the growth and development of the mining industry.

Presents news updates on industrial relations in the U.S. as of March 1967. Collective bargaining agreements signed by the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers; Contracts signed by the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks and the Railway Clerks; Settlement between the Electrical Workers Local 301 union and the General Electric Co.

Focuses on the railroad strike insurance plan launched in the United States in September 1959. Government's role in the railroads' product and labor markets; Intensification of militancy of operating crafts; Fragmentation of bargaining structure; Reaction to changes in union strike tactics; Interest of industry in a mutual assistance agreement; Provisions of the plan; Legality of the program.

Presents updates relevant to industrial relations as of January 1971. Wage increase recommended for railroad unions; Progress of negotiations between the management and the striking employees at the General Motors Corp.

Discusses the measures railroad workers have taken to adjust to technological change in the U.S. Trend towards merging of unions; Advance notice of change; Guarantee of job security; Regulation of crew size; Transfer opportunities for employees; Development of training and retraining programs; Limitations on subcontracting; Provision of displacement and dismissal allowances; Provision of unemployment benefit.