Railroad Brotherhoods

Abstract

[Excerpt] The traditional pattern of union organization in the railroad industry has been along multiple craft-union lines. As late as 1970 there were more than thirty separate unions representing the approximately 800,000 railway workers of the nation. Historically, the unions have been divided into two groupings: the operating employees, who are involved in the physical movement of trains, and nonoperating employees, an amorphous group composed of workers who fall into numerous classifications.