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

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).

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.