Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen collection
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
-
University of Illinois at Chicago,
801 S. MorganChicago, ILUSA
- Repository Number
- MSBRT18
- Title
- Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen collection,
- Dates
- 1960-1967
- Quantity
- 1 linear foot
- Language of the Material
- English
Administrative Information
Physical Description
General condition: Excellent.
Biography/Profile
The Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen (BRB), is one of the largest of four transportation unions in the United States. It was established on September 23rd 1883 by eight railway workers who met in Oneonta, New York, in the yards of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. The organization changed its name to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) in 1890. The Brotherhood had more than 1,100 lodgers and 196,365 members by the fall of 1959, 21,000 of which were in Canada. The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen was mainly comprised of roadmen and yardmen, who worked as switchmen and brakemen.
The union's internal structure was comprised of the subordinate lodge which had jurisdiction over workers in seniority districts in road, yard, or bus service. It served general administrative purposes and dealth with time claims and grievances. Each subordinate lodge had local grievance committees headed by a local chairman. The general chairmen were organized into the International Association of General Chairmen which served as an advisory body to the national president of the Brotherhood on national bargaining issues. The hazardous nature of railroad employment concerned the Brotherhood and they policed federal or state legislation, assembling complaints of violations from members and bringing them to the attention of authorities. The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Insurance Department, which was separately incorporated, operated different types of insurance policies. All these activities were supervised by the Grand Lodge.
Railroad employment went from 1,400,000 in 1945 to 800,000 by 1961 and a Presidential Railroad Commission was appointed in 1960 to investigate work rules.
Charles Luna became president in 1963. On January 1st 1969, the BRT merged with three other unions to form the United Transportation Union. The others were the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Switchmen’s Union of North America. Charles Luna became president of the combined union.
Scope and Content
The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) collection primarily consists of correspondence dated 1960-1967. Much of the correspondence is addressed to the midwestern factions of the BRT, the General Grievance Committee and Charles Luna who was the president of the BRT beginning in 1963. The correspondence includes memorandums, reports and case files.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically
Access Restrictions
Access restrictions -- Available without restriction.
Use/Re-use Restrictions
Use restrictions -- Available without restriction.
Preferred Citation
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen collection, University of Illinois at Chicago Library
Processing Information
Described by Elena Bulgarella. Released on 2018-11-06.
Indexed Terms
Inventory
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1960-1962
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1963
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-June
- Dates
- 1964
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence June-Dec
- Dates
- 1964
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1965
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-Nov
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Nov-Dec
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Dec
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-April
- Dates
- 1967
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence April-Dec
- Dates
- 1967
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Undated
- Dates
- ca. 1965
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Administrative Files
- Dates
- 1963-1965
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1960-1962
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1963
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-June
- Dates
- 1964
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence June-Dec
- Dates
- 1964
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1965
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-Nov
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Nov-Dec
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Dec
- Dates
- 1966
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Jan-April
- Dates
- 1967
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence April-Dec
- Dates
- 1967
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Correspondence Undated
- Dates
- ca. 1965
Released on 2020-02-24.
- Title
- Administrative Files
- Dates
- 1963-1965
Released on 2020-02-24.