Collection

The records of the National Union of Railwaymen are essentially a continuation of those of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales which was the largest partner in the amalgamation forming the union. The offices of the other partners, the General Railway Workers' Union and the United Pointsmen's and Signalmen's Society, were closed upon amalgamation and very few records of these unions survive.

559 boxes (549 [MSS.127], 10 [632])

The National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) was formed on 29 March 1913 by the amalgamation of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the General Railway Workers' Union and the United Pointsmen's and Signalmen's Society. The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was the dominant partner in this amalgamation. The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) refused to take part in the merger. In 1953 the National Association of Transport Employees was formed and National Union of Railwaymen members in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland transferred to that union. In 1990 the National Union of Railwaymen amalgamated with the National Union of Seamen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). Reference: P.S. Bagwell, 'The Railwaymen: History of the National Union of Railwaymen' (2 vols; George Allen and Unwin, 1963 & 1982).

This collection has been weeded for duplicates.

The arrangement of the archive and the list relating to it is based on the departmental structure of the National Union of Railwaymen. The union's rules, first promulgated in 1913 and remarkably stable thereafter, provide for four departments: finance, legal, movements and organisation. The rules describe the organisation of the Finance Department and the union's legal assistance scheme in some detail. The Movements Department's primary function is to conduct dealings with the employers of the union's members, a role which the rules expressly deny to the union's locally based organisers. Ultimate responsibility for the conduct of disputes and negotiations is, however, vested in the Executive Committee. The recruitment and retention of members was the task of the Organisation (later Organisation and Registration) Department. Following the establishment of the closed shop its work was largely a matter of membership administration. Some records, such as the union's minutes and its publications cannot be assigned to one department and are listed separately.

Unpublished material less than five years old is closed to research.

Open

The Centre also holds the records of the NUR's predecessors, the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (MSS.127/AS), the General Railway Workers' Union (MSS.127/GR) and the United Pointsmen's and Signalmen's Society (MSS.127/UP). It also holds R. Hyman's research papers relating to the National Union of Railwaymen and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (MSS.380). In addition, the Centre holds the papers of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Vehicle Wagon Builders, Wheelwrights, Carpenters and Mechanics (MSS.259/RV) and the Transport Salaried Staff Association (MSS.55).

English