Guide to the Brotherhood Of Railroad Trainmen Records,
1883-1973

Presidents' subject files contain incomplete documentation regarding the overall administration of the Brotherhood, including its constitutions, information regarding BRT conventions, the financial condition of the union and its political stance. Also documented are recent efforts by the national union to promote wage increases and work rules beneficial to the membership.

Include the constitutions and general rules of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) (1883-1964) and circulars of instruction from the Office of the Grand Master (Grand Lodge, BRT) (1899-1968) regarding work rules, contract and wage settlements, conventions, railroad and labor-related legislation, Brotherhood rituals, railroad system federations, organizing, the union's old age home, the Western Association of General Committees, union assessments on its members, membership data, relevant legislation, work safety, workers' compensation and employers' liability, the assignment of officers and political endorsements.

Constitutions, 1883-1964

Circulars of Instruction, 1899-1968

Files on benefits include various letters and reports of the Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) regarding railroad retirement benefits (1965); correspondence, including statements and reports (1959-1962) regarding increase in railroad tax and railroad unemployment insurance contribution, military service credits, and a comparison of retirement benefits for railroad employees and workers in other industries; personal letters of union members regarding retirement (bills, payment, amendments, etc.); and discussions of proposed amendments to provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act, and their effect on railroad retirement systems and unemployment insurance systems.

Benefits

Files on conventions include proceedings of the Committee of the Whole in consideration of the report of the Committee on Constitution and General rules (1935); routine letters of local lodge officers with W.P. Kennedy (president, BRT) (1949-1950); amendments submitted by Constitution Committee (1950); data on delegate election to BRT convention (1950); resolutions and reports adopted (1950); position statements of BRT on various legislation and policies (1950); Promotion Committee report (1950); statement by W.P. Kennedy upon his election to office; delegate instructions and ballots (1954-1955); legislative assessments (1954); minutes and letters regarding issue of admittance of blacks into the union; convention minutes (1954); report by Committee on Promotions; miscellaneous materials of the Ritual Committee (1954-1955); data on candidates for election to union offices (1955-1962); convention data analysis; and information on the issue of compulsory retirement for officers.

Conventions

Essay Contest

Files on financial reports include letters (carbons and originals), with statements (1960-1967) of W.P. Kennedy (president, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT)) and Harry See (BRT, national legislative representative) regarding BRT medical payments for retired members; memos and financial reports (1925-1967) from Home for Disabled and Aged Railroad Employees; and monthly reports of general secretary-treasurer, BRT Grand Lodge (1956-1961). Also Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) finance dockets (1951-1968) regarding discontinuances, abandonment, trackage elimination, trackage rights, application of railroads to acquire control of other lines, mergers, and consolidation. Included in the materials are testimony and legal papers, notices to parties, orders and certificates, briefs, petitions, statements, reports, clippings, telegrams, and letters of Donald S. Beattie (executive secretary, Railway Labor Executives' Association), Harold D. McCoy (secretary, ICC), Kennedy, Charles Luna, Francis J. Esposito (general chairman, BRT), E.A. Martin (state legislative representative, BRT), Al H. Chesser (national legislative representative, BRT), G.W. Ballard (California state legislative representative, BRT), and L.K. Faulkner (general chairman, BRT).

Financial Reports

Files on National Legislative Boards include correspondence (1959-1966) regarding the National Safety-Minimum Crew Laws, amendments to the Railway Labor Act, the Medicare Bill, the Patman Bill (HR.10668), a new international standard calendar, the Civil Rights Bill ("a blow to labor union freedom"), the suggested imposition of employee protection conditions on passenger discontinuance proposals; and routine letters of national legislative representatives (alphabetical by state), chiefly those of California (1959-[1965-1966]).

Files on the Railway Labor Act (RLA) include letters regarding the introduction of legislation to extend the provisions of the RLA and Railroad Retirement Act to bus drivers (1937-1942); letters regarding amendments to the RLA, 1934 (1934-1943); statistics on the status of individual railroads with reference to the existence of the Board of Adjustment for handling disputes; letters regarding the status of electric railways under the provisions of the RLA (1933-1944); letters regarding the wage controversy concerning non-operating railway employees (1943-1944); letters and statistics regarding the handling of grievances on American railways under the RLA; letters (1943-1944) regarding constitutional support of S.91 in U.S. Senate (1943) (pertaining to wage settlement of non-operating railway employees); letters (1957) regarding and including the booklet, "An Outline of Procedural Requirements in Handling Disputes Under RLA"; also letters regarding the continuing violation of the RLA by carriers.

Files on safety include correspondence and inspection reports regarding safety of bridges, tracks, trestles, walkways and handrails (1951-1965).

Files on state railroad laws include correspondence (1964-1967) concerning state laws and city ordinances regarding the issue of blocking highways and street crossings at grades (1964-1967); sample flagging legislation (1965); letters of Charles Luna, C.J. Sludden, and state legislative representatives regarding proposed modifications in Rule #99 (Flagging Rule) (1965-1966); questionnaire regarding changes in Rule #99; and related materials.

Files on the Trainmen's Political Education League (TPEL) include letters (1965) regarding TPEL, Canadian "right to work" laws, the organization of TPEL in Canada (1965-1966), and TPEL general political activity; also Ladies' Auxiliary correspondence (1965-1966) to TPEL from Grand President Theresa E. Mosher; TPEL membership statistics (national totals, etc.) (1966); by-laws; membership drive statistics; financial data; personal letters of thanks to Charles Luna for political endorsements (1966); TPEL political endorsements for the general election (1964-1966); correspondence of L.E. Corsi (Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen public relations director); voting records of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives (1962-1965); publications; and carbons and originals of political financial contributions (alphabetical by state) (1965-1966).

National Legislative Boards

Political (by state)

Railroads

Railway Labor Act Safety State Railroad Laws

Trainmen's Political Education League (General Files, then state files)

Files on wage rules include hearings, proceedings, agreements, and awards regarding a strike for the 40-hour week, and the wage increase movement (1950); yard decisions (1943-1954) of the General Grievance Committee, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad system; minutes of a meeting of the General Grievance Committee, BRT, Boston and Maine Railroad (1961): an agreement (1910) between BRT and Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad regarding pay, rules and regulations (1910); transcript of hearings on Rule #14 (basic daily rate of yard conductor foremen); schedules of wage adjustments (1923, 1944, 1955-1957, 1962); seniority rosters (1963-1970); mediation agreements (1955-1960); Baltimore and Ohio Railroad TRAINMEN'S BULLETIN (1949-1963); reports of the Standing Committee, BRT Local Grievance Committee (1937-1952); and minutes of the New York Association BRT.

Also letters regarding rulings on promotions and seniority (1953); crew consist (1959-1960); seniority (1939-1943); 1968 wage rates; assignment of work crew (1957-1962); transfer (1944-1956); letters regarding layoffs, equity of work, division of work, revision of agreements, 5-day workweek, and working on a percent basis (1942-1960); letters regarding failure to comply with union shop agreement (1952-1956); passes and regulations (1943-1960); air hose agreements (1947-1951); resignations (1953-1963); work claims and grievances (1947-1948); time limit claims (1949-1951); grievances (1944-1948); terminal rule (home and intermediate) (1939-1947); honorable discharge from military service and resumption of railroad duty (1946); resignations (chiefly of brakemen) (1946-1947); payment for yardmen used in road service (1939-1945), pilots' rate of pay instead of brakemens' rates (1938-1940); discharge and reinstatement (1964); and general yard rulings (1934-1954).

Other correspondence includes letters of L.S. Coffin, Lodge No. 34 (1934-1940) concerning a compulsory military training bill, the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, applications for BRT admittance, financial contributions, resolutions, death benefit and disability claims, and political endorsements (1936-1937). Chief correspondents are W.O. Reynolds (trainmaster, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), H.E. Banta (local chairman, BRT), J.R. Clark (general yardmaster, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad), W.E.B. Chase (vice-president, BRT), W.T. Elnes (general manager, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad), W. Haddix (chairman, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad), W.P. Kennedy (president, BRT), and C.G. Stewart (general manager, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad).

Wage-Rules Work Claims and Grievances

Include Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen lodge book and files of certain BRT local lodges, including membership data and information concerning insurance and grievance cases, among other matters.

Include Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) lodge record book which contains data on membership, insurance, lodge chapters, and retirement funds; insurance "Policy Registers" (10 vol.) recording date of admission, initiation, transfer or withdrawal, as well as vital statistics of members holding insurance; minutes of the Oil Creek (Oil City, Penn.) Lodge No. 105 (1885-1959) (6 vol.); of Lodge No. 187 (Buffalo, N.Y.) (1898-1927) (11 vol.); of Perseverance Lodge No. 96 (Oneonta, N.Y.) of the Ladies' Auxiliary (10 vol.); and of Sunshine Lodge No. 595 (Albuquerque, N.M.) of the Ladies' Auxiliary (1917-1945) (1 vol. minutes and 1 vol. roll book). Also miscellaneous correspondence of Lodge No. 927 (Cleveland, Ohio) (1941-1945).

Files of Lodge No. 143, Syracuse, N.Y. (1925-1968), include general chairman's files (1957-1961); correspondence regarding claims (1945-1966); agreements, 1960-1963; cases involving the "full crew" issue; General Grievance Committee files (1957-1961); membership applications (1940-1950); legislative representative reports (1963-1965); monthly financial statements (1964-1965); legislative reports (1950-1963); routine lodge correspondence (1946-1961); and minutes (1927-1951).

General Grievance Committee files of Lodge No. 1000, (Indianapolis, Ind.) include awards of 1st Division of National Railroad Adjustment Board; bulletins of Toledo Division; cases appealed to General Grievance Committee over Sub-General Committee action; United Transportation Union (UTU) Local No. 166 (former BRT Lodge No. 1000) files of Local Committee of Adjustment on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B & O); General Grievance Committee circulars; decisions of T.J. Lynch (general chairman, General Grievance Committee) in cases involving the B & O, Office of Superintendent, Dayton claims; strike documents (rules, instruction, etc.); cases and grievance complaints (1940-1950) regarding conductor promotions, discipline, suspension, reinstatement, conductors' rights, disability, personal injury, lockers for road and yardmen, lunch periods, complaints regarding B & O officials, leave of absence, failure to report, seniority, deadheading, displacement rights, held away from home terminal, paid holidays, initial terminal delay, and mileage claims.

Also include letters of W.P. Kennedy (president, BRT), members of Lodge No. 1000, R.J. Roeder (superintendent, B & O Railroad), superintendent, trainmaster, and yardmaster, and W.G. Innis (secretary-treasurer, BRT) regarding grievance and complaint cases, conventions, conductors' representation dispute with the Order of Railway Conductors and the BRT (1942-1944, 1951), Hours of Service Law, (1932-1958), military service and veterans' education, the BRT Medical Department, and other routine lodge business.

Lodge Notebook (3 folders) re Beneficiary Department. Detailed requests for claims; covers all lodges. Lodge #1, Oneonta, NY Anniversary booklets, newspaper articles, photographs, correspondence. Lodge #93, Minutes, 1893-1894 (SEE #5612)

Lodge #96, Ladies Perseverance Lodge, Oneonta, NY Minutes books Insurance Records, 1906-1965 (16 bound vols.)

Lodge #105, Oil City, Pa. Minutes and Lodgebook, 1885-1958 (6 vols.)

Local #143, Syracuse, NY 1925-1968. Claims,

Claims, General Chairman Files, Correspondence

Claims, Grievance Committee, 1957-61; Agreements, 1960-63

Claims; Full Crew

miscellaneous Correspondence, 1945-51 - Claims

Membership Applications, 1940-50's; Correspondence 1965-66; Legislative Representative Reports, 1963-65; Claims, 1960's; Monthly Financial Statements, 1964-65

Legislative Reports, 1950-63; Darrow Report-Cornell, 1956; Lodge Correspondence, 1946-47, 1956-57, 1959-61 and Miscellaneous Correspondence; "Order of Business," 1952-68

Minute books, 1927-33, 1939-45

Minute book, 1946-51 Minute book, Lodge 122 Ladies Auxiliary, 1946-53

Local 187, Buffalo, NY, Minute books, 1898-1927 (11 bound vols.)

Local 311, Mechanicville, NY. 1941-59, Correspondence re Claims, etc. Local 595, Sunshine Lodge, Ladies Auxiliary, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Minute books and roll book, 1917-45; Local 927, Cleveland, Ohio, Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1941-45

Local 1000, Indianapolis, Ind. General Grievance Committee, Files, 1940-1950's

Include correspondence of state legislative representatives and chairmen of state legislative boards with Charles Luna (president, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT)), Al H. Chesser (national legislative chairman, BRT), and W.E.B. Chase (secretary-treasurer, BRT). Also the reports, minutes, and bulletins of state legislative boards.

The state legislative board files represent the District of Columbia and the following 34 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Alabama

Arkansas

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York State

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Documents the national and state lobbying efforts of the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

Include Pennsylvania State Legislative Board minutes (1964); quarterly reports of the Board (1963-1968); and Board legislative bulletins (1955-1963).

Reports and bulletins typically deal with legislative enactments and political endorsements which, it was hoped, would help to solve problems such as those of safety and working conditions on railroads passing through Pennsylvania. Also includes the correspondence of Charles Luna and C.J. Sludden with the secretaries and legislative representatives of the majority of Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen lodges in Pennsylvania requesting support for or discussing proposed state or federal legislation in the areas of transportation, labor relations and social policy (1963-1966).

Election files include correspondence and other documents on primary and general elections at the state and federal levels.

Primary election materials (1964-1966) include correspondence regarding union political endorsements and acknowledgements from legislators. Major union correspondents are C.J. Sludden and Al H. Chesser. General election (1966-1968) correspondence includes exchanges between Sludden, Chesser, and Charles Luna, writing for the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT), Thomas Minehart (chairman, Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee) and state candidates regarding BRT endorsements. Included are materials regarding Milton J. Shapp's gubernatorial campaign (1963); also election endorsement publications (1912-1968) (39 vol.), which indicate the political endorsements of the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board of the BRT and those of the Ladies' Primary Auxiliary; also numerous other documents.

Include correspondence of Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) officers concerning national and state legislation as well as statements and Congressional testimony by union officers and public figures regarding legislation of concern to the Brotherhood.

Legislative correspondence file includes copies of letters between Harry See (BRT National legislative representative) and various Brotherhood officers and political figures regarding legislation of interest to the BRT. Includes discussion of HR.356 (the Van Zandt Bill), to repeal a portion of Section 3-B of the Railroad Retirement Act re dual payment of railroad retirement and social security; of S.281 re the abandonment of train stations and services; HR.716 which required railroads to equip bridges and walkways with railings; HR.800, a minimum crew law; HR.843, a clearance and obstruction bill; HR.502 which required buses to be equipped with sanders for safe operation; HR.586, prohibiting underground storage of gas in coal seams and under operating coal mines; and others; also copies of various bills introduced by the BRT (1953).

Correspondents include C.J. Sludden, U.S. Senators Edward Martin and James H. Duff, W.E. Price, M.J. Murphy, and W.P. Kennedy, among others.

File also includes statements of various union and public figures on legislation of interest to the Brotherhood. Examples are the testimony of G.E. Leighty before the Transportation and Aeronautics Sub-Committee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce regarding passenger train service legislation, a statement of Harry Boyer (president, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO) before the Joint Legislative Committee studying the proposed criminal codes, in support of the right to privacy, and numerous other statements and testimony supporting or opposing individual bills before the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the Pennsylvania legislature.

Consist of legislative subject files regarding representative or lobbying organizations.

Files on Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) State Legislative Boards include correspondence between BRT state representatives and chairmen of boards of Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, West Virginia, Washington, Virginia, and Vermont with Charles Luna (president, BRT), Al H. Chesser (national legislative representative), and W.E.B. Chase (general secretary-treasurer) regarding elections, recommendations and endorsements, reorganization of state legislative boards; minutes; clippings; quarterly reports; and proposed state legislation (1963-1966).

Files on the Co-operative Legislative Committee include reports submitted to C.J. Sludden, as chairman of the Committee, from the Committee's attorney, Thomas Park Shearer and Sludden's reports to the secretaries or legislative representatives of BRT Lodges in Pennsylvania (1964-1968).

Files on the National Conference of State Legislative Representatives include minutes of meetings of the Conference (1947-1966); statements (1952), and letters (1953) regarding reflectorized switch targets, long trains, and bills to regulate transportation of inflammable liquids by motor vehicle, among other routine documents (1930-1968).

Pennsylvania American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) files include correspondence regarding Pennsylvania's compensation laws; a statement by the AFL-CIO Executive Council on railroad merger (1961); monthly bulletins of Pennsylvania AFL-CIO (1960-1961); letters and a statement by Harry Boyer (co-president, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO), regarding the campaign of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; AFL-CIO legislative action bulletins (1957-1958); letters from Edward F. Toohey (president, Philadelphia Council, AFL-CIO) regarding defeat of a "right to work" amendment in Oklahoma and the Pennsylvania registration campaign, among other issues; minutes of Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Executive Council (1962-1965); and resolutions submitted by BRT presenting its political position (1960-1961).

The Pennsylvania League for Consumer Protection file includes correspondence from the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO on HR.15440, the Fair Package and Labeling Bill, resolutions in support of the Senate's "Truth in Packaging" bill S.985 (1965-1967) and copies of proposed transportation bills (1951-1955), as well as other publications and routine documents.

Railway Labor Executive's Association (RLEA) materials contain letters from G.W. Roberts (chairman, General Grievance Committee, BRT) concerning addition of rules to BRT agreements having to do with physical exams, time limit on claims, meal periods, and monetary allowance for employees who handle mail, as well as speeches by RLEA officers, routine correspondence and other RLEA documents, reports and publications (1959-1966).

Additional organizational documents in these files are largely facilitative in nature.

Subject files include materials on all aspects of the work of the Board. Of interest are the files on the issues of caboose use by railroad crews, flagging, the full crew issue, the Pennsylvania Railroad-New York Central Railroad merger, sanitary conditions in the workplace, and unemployment compensation.

Caboose use data include letters of S.F. Dwyer (director, Bureau of Inspection, Department of Labor and Industry), C.J. Sludden, Bruce J. Milliren (secretary, Industrial Board of Pennsylvania, Department of Labor and Industry), legislative representatives and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) members. Correspondence regards lack of maintenance and improper conditions in rider cars, the use of reflectorized markers and rear end marker lamps; caboose inspection reports of the Bureau of Inspection, Department of Labor and Industry; a BRT petition for an amendment to regulations regarding industrial sanitation and railroad sanitation; and Erie-Lackawanna Railroad caboose repair reports, among other documents (1955-1965).

Flagging files include Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) accident investigation reports, wage rates, and a statement at hearings on the Reading Railroad; letters of C.J. Sludden, Al H. Chesser, J.W. Reinhard (secretary, Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission), J.J. Dillon (legislative representative, BRT Lodge No. 382), J.M. Reilly (general chairman), Charles Luna, and Thomas Park Shearer (attorney) regarding unsafe conditions on the Pennsylvania Railroad (East), discussions of rear end flag protection, flagging rule #99, road and yard crews consist issues, minimum safe crew consist, and a petition by railroad brotherhoods for flagging regulations; State's Right to Require Supplemental Train Protection in View of the Interstate Commerce Act, a paper (1968); briefs of cases before the Supreme Court on the issue; ICC investigations of accidents resulting from signal failure and related causes (1962); operating rules for railroads with respect to flag protection against following trains; case briefs before the Public Service Commission, the BRT vs. the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, Pennsylvania Railroad, Missouri-Pacific Railroad, and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; and monthly statistics on reportable injuries or accidents involving employees (1954-1964); and other related documents.

Files on full crew laws (1915-1966) include letters of George B. Roward, Harry G. Walsh (vice-chairman, State Legislative Board, BRT), Thomas J. McGrath (general counsel), H.C. Walsh (chairman, Pennsylvania State Legislative Board), A.F. Whitney, J.A. Farquharson (national legislative representative, BRT), C.J. Sludden, H.F. Sites (chairman, General Grievance Committee, BRT), Charles Luna, W.P. Kennedy, and W.L. Reed (assistant to the president, BRT) and others, discussing accidents, safety regulations, the full crew bill before the Pennsylvania legislature, the Supreme Court's enforcement of full crew laws, and the establishment of minimum requirements in equipping railroad cars used in employee transportation; papers on full crew and train limit bills, social progress and railroad costs; report of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Special Committee on the full crew and train limit bills of Pennsylvania (1935); report on operations of crews to and from various terminals on Pennsylvania railroads; and reports on full crew violations (1956-1958).

Files also include legal materials for cases before the Pennsylvania Public Service Commission and the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission regarding investigations into violations of full crew laws, chiefly involving the BRT and the Order of Railway Conductors, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen vs. Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Railroad, Delaware and Hudson Railroad, Monongahela Railway, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Cumberland Valley Railroad, and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Files regarding the merger of the Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads include correspondence of W.P. Kennedy and C.J. Sludden; reviews of the economic consequences of the merger for the state of Pennsylvania and for railroad employees; requests for additional ICC hearings on the impact of the merger; documents relating to the development of an "Anti-Merger" Committee; and legal documents, statistical compilations and other data regarding its impact. Also included is a 1966 agreement between the Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads and employees represented by the BRT and the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen detailing employment procedures in the event of a merger (ca. 1962-1966).

Railroad sanitary condition information (1951-1965) includes letters of S.F. Dwyer, C.J. Sludden, and Eugene Zapparelli (superintendent, Bureau of Inspection, Department of Labor and Industry) regarding sanitary regulations; reports pertaining to corrective measures for unsafe and unsanitary conditions on Pennsylvania Railroad, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Delaware and Hudson Railroad, Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, New York Central Railroad, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and Reading Railroad.

Unemployment compensation files (1955-1966) contain copies of proposed legislation, statements by Harry Boyer and J.L. Shearer (Bethlehem Steel Corporation) before the Joint State Government Commissioners Task Force on Unemployment Compensation; "Let's Not Squander the Opportunity to Revise Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Program," a paper by Milton Shapp; testimony on HR.8282, the employment security amendments; and a report by Jack B. Brown (executive director, Bureau of Employment Security) on progress achieved by Pennsylvania's reform of unemployment compensation programs, among numerous other documents.

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Plus miscellaneous New Jersey/Penn. Railroad; New Jersey /Reading; General; Natl. Conference; Midwest Association; New England Association; Western Conference; S.E. Association

Consist of agreements and mediation files regarding issues and cases brought before the U.S. Railroad Administration, the National Mediation Board; and the National Railroad Adjustment Board; also files on representational disputes with other railroad labor unions.

Include agreements, chiefly covering rules, rates of pay, wages, regulations and working conditions; also interpretations of working agreements, vacation agreements, supplemental agreements and mediation agreements. Approximately 400 railroads are represented.

The major railroads represented include Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (1901-1929), Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (1892-1933), Canadian National Railroad/West (1893-1953), Canadian Pacific Railroad (1898-1954), Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad (1942-1951), Cleveland Union Terminal Railroad (1944-1965), Colorado and Southern Railroad (1900-1953), Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (1902-1957), Great Northern Railway (1929-1941), Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe (1906-1965), Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio Railroad (1910-1927), Illinois Central Railroad (1893-1939), Iowa Central Railroad (1902-1911), and Kansas City Southern Railway (1897-1946).

Other railroads represented include Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad (1905-1932), Lehigh and New England Railroad (1911-1928), Long Island Railroad (1899-1935), Louisville and Nashville Railroad (1903-1940), Michigan Central Railroad (1900-1953), Maine Central Railroad (1902-1943), Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (1901-1943), Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (1897-1941), Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad (1911-1919), Missouri Pacific Railroad (1891-1937), Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway (1907-1944), New York, Ontario and Western Railroad (1900-1947), New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company (1901-1951), New York Central Railroad (1900-1963), Northern Pacific Railroad (1894-1928), Pennsylvania Railroad (1902-1941), Oregon and Washington Railroad (1898-1930), Oregon Shortline Railroad (1900-1929), Norfolk and Western Railway (1899-1943), Norfolk, Portsmouth and Belt Railroad (1912-1929), Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (1894-1944), Panhandle & Santa Fe Railway (1901-1929), Pere Marquette Railway (1900-1924), Quebec Central Railroad (1907-1929), Pacific Electric Railway (1935-1945), Rutland Railroad (1906-1955), San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (1904-1914), Southern Railroad (1889-1927), St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad (1903-1929), Southern Pacific Railroad (Pacific System) (1892-1935), St. Louis Southwestern Railway (1899-1937), Texas and Pacific Railroad (1898-1944), Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad (1907-1919), Ulster and Delaware Railroad (1906-1921), Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (1901-1930), Union Pacific Railway (1923-1950), Virginia Railroad (1909-1928), Wabash Railroad (1900-1929), Western Maryland Railway (1907-1946), and Western Pacific Railroad. The agreements files also include briefs and dockets of cases before the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB), petitions, seniority lists, financial dockets, letters and memos, fact sheets, Emergency Board presidential reports, press releases, and pamphlets relating to BRT agreements.

A

B

B-C

C

C-D

D

F-G

G-H

I-J

J-L

L-M

M

M-N

N-O

N-P

P

P-Q

R-S

S

T-U

U-Z

Miscellaneous Agreements

Include files on cases brought before the U.S. Railroad Administration, the National Mediation Board and the National Railroad Adjustment Board, as well as files documenting jurisdictional disputes between the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and other railroad labor unions.

File on the United States Railroad Administration includes transcripts of the proceedings of its Board of Railroad Wages and Working Conditions regarding railroad trainmen (1919) (10 vol).

National Mediation Board (NMB) files include correspondence of A.J. Glover (president, Switchmen's Union of North America (SUNA)), D.F. Rook and E.M. Grey, as well as case briefs re the yardmen representation question on the Aliquippa and Southern Railroad (1948-1949); petition for the re-hearing of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLF & E) vs. Chicago Great Western Railroad, including letters from Thomas Clohessy (vice-president, SUNA), D.B. Robinson (president, BLF & E), and J.P. Farrell (vice-presient, BLF & E); documents relating to a dispute which involved the NMB, the National War Labor Board, and the National Railway Labor Panel regarding the scope of each agency's jurisdiction (1943); statistics on NMB decisions on representational disputes between the railway brotherhoods (1934-1942); BRT recommendations regarding William Leiserson's replacement upon his resignation from the NMB (1944); and transcripts of NMB proceedings and summaries of related cases concerning the handling of representational disputes under the Railway Labor Act (1953). Also scattered documents relating to individual cases involving the BRT.

National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) files include briefs before the NRAB re the request by the Pennsylvania Railroad for discontinuance of selected train and engine service (1934-1940); minutes of meetings of national railroad labor organizations for the purpose of discussing the formation of the NRAB (1938-1939); hearing regarding the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters' right to participate in the selection of a labor member for the Third Division, NRAB (1948-1949); awards, clippings, and correspondence regarding alcohol abuse among operating railroad employees (1940); an article by Whitney entitled "Sabotaging the National Railroad Adjustment Board" (n.d.); numerous fragments of files on cases brought before the Board by the BRT.

Files on representational disputes with other railroad labor unions include a printed report of evidence given in the trial of the BRT before a committee of the Supreme Council of United Orders of Railway Employes (1891); files on a 1961 dispute heard by the Canadian Board of Conciliation between the BRT and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers over representation of Canadian National Railways and Canadian Pacific workers; files on numerous representational disputes between the BRT and SUNA, including that over the Des Moines Union Railroad, heard by an impartial umpire under the AFL-CIO Internal Disputes Plan (1967); that over the New York Central Railroad (1932-1934); over the Northern Pacific Railway (1940-1947); and the lengthy dispute over the Michigan Central Railroad (1926-1943).

The BRT's disputes with the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen (ORC & B) are well documented herein. Included are circular letters regarding representational disputes (ca. 1951-1958) and the alleged policy of the ORC & B of driving a wedge between road and yardmen; also fragments of documents relating to representational disputes on various lines.

Additional documents include wage and rules movements files documenting the 1946 and 1956 movements, scattered documents re U.S. Presidential Emergency Boards, and other materials dealing with dispute resolution in the industry.

Aliquippot Southern Railroad, 1948

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, 1960

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1958

Chicago Great Western, 1936

Chicago, Rock Island, 1936

D & RGW Railroad, 1951

Detroit Terminal, 1931-39

Erie Railroad, 1953

Monogahela Railroad, 1949

Niles-Elkhart Dispute, 1960's

NRAB Case Files, Correspondence, etc.

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Co.

Oregon and Northwestern

South Pacific Lines

Southern Railroad Co.

Spokane Portland Terminal Railroad Assn.

Representation Disputes

NMB correspondence, 1935-40

Jurisdiction of Several Government Agencies, 1943

Regional Boards Appointees, 1934

NYC/Ohio Central Railroad NMB Intervention, 1940-49

NMB Correspondence and Cases, 1950-62

Des Moines Union Railway Company, 1967

Kansas City Terminal 1948

Merger-SUNA/BRT 1958

Conducting Representative Elections BRT/OCRB, 1962

BRT/ORC/Order of Sleeping Car Porters, 1942

BRT Merger or Fight Edict, 1964

Miscellaneous Information

SUNA vs. BRT - Opposition to BRT Affiliation with AFL-CIO 1957

SUNA and Other Brotherhoods, 1932-34

BRT / SUNA NYCRR 1932 - 34

Northern Pacific Railroad SUNA/BRT Rival Unionism

B and O Railroad 1935

BLE/BRT 1943

ORC vs. NMB and BRT

Detroit Terminal 1939

BRT vs. ORC 1944

Ray vs. BRT (SUNA) 1935

Wage and Rule Movements, 1932-65. Includes Reports; Circular letters; Briefs exhibits, reports of various conciliation and arbitration boards and agreements

Transcript of Proceedings, 1919, Board of Railroad Wages and Working Conditions (10 vols.)

Report of Evidence Given in Trial of the BRT Before a Committee of the Supreme Council of the United Order of Railway Employees, 1891

40-Hour Work Week, 1953-

Miscellaneous Transcripts

Includes correspondence, mss. and printed reports and documents created by or of interest to national officers of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT).

Included are correspondence and documents on the relations between the BRT and the other operating railroad brotherhoods, specifically concerning the controversy between the BRT and the Switchmen's Union of North America (SUNA) involving black railroad employees (1935), as well as litigation between the unions regarding rival unionism on the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad (1936-1937); correspondence between the presidents of the BRT and the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen (ORC & B) regarding relations between their unions (1940-1941); and miscellaneous materials regarding the merger of the BRT, the ORC & B, SUNA, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLF & E) (1968).

Correspondence and documents relating to Canadian matters, include the vacation agreement of 1941, the dues checkoff agreement of 1953, and a file on the Canadian Full Crew Law (1960-1964).

Correspondence and circulars of the BRT Constitution Committee regard job protection for union members, vacations, the closed shop, the Railroad Retirement Act, dues checkoff, insurance premiums, contested union elections, and BRT policies regarding strikes of other unions (1946-1950).

Legislation files (ca. 1957-1968) include letters of Charles Luna, W.P. Kennedy, and G.W. Rogers (secretary-treasurer, BRT), proceedings, copies of bills and acts, statements, reports, booklets and pamphlets, bill amendments, press releases, financial dockets, arbitration proceedings, and telegrams re Hours of Service Act (1957-1967), Power Brake Law of 1958 (1958-1966), Railroad Safety Appliance Act (1911, 1922, 1963-1966), Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (1959-1962), Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 (1964-1967), Railway Labor Act, Norris-La Guardia Act (1965-1966), Transportation Act of 1958, Federal Employers' Liability Act (1958-1968), Canadian Full Crew Law (1960-1964), and Washington Job Protection Agreement (1960).

Files on the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) include awards, dockets, and statistics for cases handled and disposed of by NRAB (1949-1950); letters of R.J. Brooks (deputy president, BRT), G.H. Side (vice-president and general manager, Wabash Railroad), and E.D. Conner (general chairman, BRT) regarding changes in the rules of procedure with respect to ex-parte submissions (1949) and status of dockets before NRAB (1948); and letters, clippings, opinions, statements, and other materials concerning crew consist rules in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Files on railroads (1941-1968) include briefs, reports, letters, articles, government and legal documents regarding job protection, passenger service train discontinuance, fair competition, trackage rights, consolidation of trains, discontinuance, abandonment of trackage, increase in passenger fares, reduced train service, and improper main passenger service and equipment. Railroads mentioned in these files include the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (1958-1967), the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (1961-1968), the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (1960-1968), the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad (1957-1959), the Boston and Maine Railroad (1962-1967), the Chicago and North Western Railway (1941-1948), the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (1943-1948), the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (1950-1956), and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, Old Colony Division (1948-1950).

Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) files (1934-1965) include RLEA by-laws, scattered meeting minutes and agendas, correspondence between W.P. Kennedy (president, BRT) Harry See (national legislative representative, BRT) and RLEA officials, and correspondence between BRT and RLEA officials regarding BRT's reaffiliation with the RLEA (1955-1956), among other documents. Of interest is a 1934 report of RLEA with reference to its response to a railroad proposal that basic wage rates of their employees be reduced by fifteen percent.

Files on safety include correspondence regarding the safety of bus equipment (1963-1968) and correspondence and draft legislation on safety standards for railroad equipment. Also correspondence regarding the size and weight of trucks using U.S. highways and a resolution regarding vehicle size and weights.

Also a 1943 typed draft of a "Biography of Alexander F. Whitney" by the Education and Research Bureau of the BRT and clippings regarding his death (1949), among numerous other documents.

Train Orders-Line Ups- Committee of Record, General Correspondence

Train Orders and Telephone Agreements

Joint Letter of Understanding 11/14/34 re handling of Train Orders

Proposed Joint Train Order Agreement

Vacations, Holidays

Union Shop - General, check-off agreements, union shop agreement and Certified mail agreement, Canadian check-off, procedure for processing union shop, arbitration awards-union shop

Merger material, 1968

Miscellaneous

National Conference of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners Convention

Miscellaneous Whitney/Luna correspondence, mid-1960's

Miscellaneous material, BRT, 1960-68

Constitution Committee, by Local Number (bound. vol.)

Labor Arbitration - History of National Legislation Relating to Labor Arbitration, 49th-57th Congresses, 1886-1902, (bound v.)

Report of the National Legislative Representative, 1897, 1906 1908. (3 vols.

Office Instructions

Canadian Wage and Rule Movement

Wage and Rules

Vacation Agreements

Ruling re Switching Association

Circular Letters, 1954-60; 1953-48

Travelers' Insurance Company

Strike Notices

1968 Book #1 Unification Committee

RLEA #2180 (10 folders) 1965

Report of E.J. Connors, NRAB, 1st Division, 1945-

Railroad Retirement Board District Manager, 1940's

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

3030-P General

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe

Baltimore and Ohio

Bangor and Aroostook

Bessemer and Lake Erie

Boston and Albany

Boston and Maine

Butte, Anaconda and Pacific

Hours of Service Act

Power Train Brake Law of 1958

Safety appliances Act

RRR Act

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

Railway Labor Act

Transportation Act of 1958

U.S. Court Decisions

4300-1-NL (Bus and Truck) General

Petition of E. Brooke Matlack, Inc.

Roadway Express Inc.

NYC Transport Co.

Yellow Coach Lines

Interstate Motor Lines

Federal Employees Liability Act

Full Crew (Canadian)

Union Railway Company

Great Lakes-Ohio River

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad FD 13737

CNWRR FD 13172

CNW FD 13907

P CBQ F016395

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy FD 14161

CRIP FD 17060

Louisiana - Proposed Consolidation of Railroad Passenger Terminal Facilities at New Orleans

Illinois Central - Wages, 1900

NRAB 1940-55

U.S. Dept. of Labor, Financial Reports, 1963

U.S. Dept. of Transportation, 1968

correspondence re agreements, 1932-66

Minutes of Joint Gen. Committee, ORCB, BRT, ATSF Coast Lines, 1914

Memo to Grievance Committee Bus Department, 1961

Mediation Agreements, 1939-55

Improved Wages, 1966; CU Terminal, 1968; Inter-Union Correspondence, 1939-68

Union Belt RR Yardmasters, 1945

Unification Proposal, 1965

Canadian W/Rs 14500-K CNRR W 1961

W-R Movement, 1962

CN Ry-W 1961

W-R Movement Lawsuit, BRT & SUNA

Miscellaneous

NYC Case - Whitney

Propaganda

Q.B. McLay

Whitney

Correspondence re BRT/SUNA Jurisdiction of C.U.T.

NMB Certification BRT 1962

Propaganda Files

BRT 1910-11

BRT/SUNA 1930's

C-N (filed alphabetically by Railroad, includes correspondence, 1950's-1960's)

Ohio-River Terminal Case

Washington Job Protection Agreement

King vs. U.S. (Texas and New Orleans)

NY, NH & HRR Old Colony

Minnesota - Reports on Reorganization of Minnesota Legislative Boards and Quarterly Reports, 1932-42

Volumes on Crew Consist and Full Crew

Consist of minutes of grievance committees and memoranda concerning claims brought by employees of the New York Central Railroad.

Include minutes of the General Grievance Committee of the New York Central Lines East (BRT, Lodge No. 598) recorded by William J. O'Brien (general chairman) (1942), Alfred H. Spirin (general chairman) (1934-1967), and B.W. McKenna (general chairman) (1947-1949); minutes of the Joint General Grievance Committee of the Order of Railway Conductors and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen of the New York Central Lines East (1923); minutes of the General Committee of Adjustment of the United Transportation Union (UTU) (1970-1973); and memorandum of conferences held (1936) in connection with the efforts of organizations in engine and train service, growing out of the New York Central Railroad Company's refusal to pay claims awarded by the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB).

Al Spirin, General Chairman, Local 598. Includes minutes and reports, 1923-1969

Consist largely of internally circulated BRT publications and documents and those produced by other railroad labor organizations or by railroads.

Consist largely of internally circulated BRT publications and documents.

Include the following Brotherhood serial publications: constitutions (1931-1964); ritual pamphlets (1925-1960); Directory of Grand Lodge and Subordinate Lodges (1953-1968); and convention and anniversary programs (1933-1958). Occasional and individual Brotherhood publications and reports include "Main Street, Not Wall Street: A Reply to the Railroads Demand for a Wage Reduction," (1938); "The Railroad Transportation Bill: An Organized Effort to Squeeze Railroad Employees" (1939); negotiating manuals for the United States (1952-1953, 1962) and Canada (1954-1959); reports by Brotherhood presidents on wage-rule movements in the United States (1944-1946, 1949-1951) and Canada (1952-1953); text of the Labor-Management Relations Act (1947) with annotations by the Brotherhood; Insurance Department rate book and sales manual (1965); Federal Laws, General Wage and Rules Agreements, Decisions, Awards and Orders Governing Employees Engaged in Train, Yard, and Dining Car Service on Railroads in the United States (1954); and miscellaneous reports and speeches by executive officers of the Brotherhood.

Schedule booklets, manuals, reports, rules, rituals

Directory 1968, Programs, Main Street, Not Wall Street, BRT Anti-SUNA Emblems, Anti-Whitney letters, Insurance booklets, RLEA voting record, 1966, manuals

Miscellaneous Publications

"BRT Topics," Miscellaneous Transcripts, Southern California Rapid Transit District Publications, Road Train and Engine Service Assignments, Special Adjustment Board #18, Trainmen's Settlements, "BRT Floodlight," Reports, Roster, Insurance Department Publications.

Directories, Miscellaneous, "Dispensations - BRT," (bound vol.)

Duplicate copies of "Circular of Instructions" and Constitutions

Consist largely of publications and documents produced by other railroad labor organizations or by railroads.

Include Canadian Railway War Board wage agreement (1918); report of final sittings of the Canadian Railway War Board and formation of the Railway Association of Canada (1919); reports of annual meetings of the Railway Association of Canada (1920-1924); address by E.W. Beatty (president, Canadian Pacific Railways), entitled "Railway Men and Politics" (1919); Parliamentary debates in Canada (1953) on the "Industrial Undertaking Bill"; schedules of rules and regulations, schedules of rates of pay, operating instructions for machinery and signals, and safety rules and practices for the Erie Railroad, Great Northern Railway, Southern Pacific Railroad, Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railroad, Canadian National Railways, and Quebec Central Railroad; and constitutions for the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen (1948), among other publications and documents.