Railway Trade Unionism in Britain, c. 1880-1900.

This article examines two points in the history of trade unionism on the railways in Great Britain in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. It details the changing power structure of the union and the distribution of the membership from region to region and one grade to another. Also, it discusses the nature of the response of the old Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants to the new unionism associated with the London Dock strike of 1889 led by John Burns and Tom Mann. Finally, the article discusses the conflicts between policies advocating local bargaining with individual companies and those shaping national movements for one or all grades of railwaymen that characterized the history of the union between 1880 and 1900.