Trade Union entry Australian Railways Union (1921 - 1993)

Summary

The Mutual Services Association, which was formed in 1884, changed its name in 1900, to the Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees. In 1911 the Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees and cognate organisations voted overwhelmingly to form a united Victorian Railways Union which, in 1921 became the Victorian Branch of the Australian Railways Union [ARU]. In 1993 the ARU merged with other unions to form the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.

Related entries

Timeline

 1884 - 1900 Mutual Services Association
       1900 - 1911 Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees
             1911 - 1921 Victorian Railways Union
                   1921 - 1993 Australian Railways Union
                         1993 - Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union

Archival resources

Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle

• South Maitland Railways Archive - Legal and Industrial Records, 1903 - 1954, A5547; Archives Rare Books and Special Collections Unit, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle. Details

Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland

• Bill Morrow - Papers, 1888? - 1980?, UQFL 30; Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland. Details

James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives

• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1919 - 1968, 170L; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details
• Queensland Premier's and Chief Secretary's Office Records, c. 1927 - ?, 66L; James Cook University of North Queensland, Library Archives. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Betty Blunden - Papers, 1853-1985, 1853 - 1985, MS 7769; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Lloyd Ross - Papers, 1854-1986, 1854 - 1986, MS 3939; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• Bill O'Neill interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/22; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with John Halfpenny, trade union leader - interviewer, Barry York, 1988, ORAL TRC 3781; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Interview with Lloyd Ross, historian, trade unionist, writer and biographer - interviewer, Suzanne Walker, 1973, ORAL TRC 236; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Jim Walshe interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1994, ORAL TRC 3128/10; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Lloyd Ross interviewed by Richard Raxworthy and Michael Easson in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/21; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details
• Ted Heagney interviewed by Richard Raxworthy in the Labor Council of New South Wales oral history project, 1986, ORAL TRC 1948/12; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1920 - 1990, E197; N79; Z359; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1908 - 1992, N5; Z570; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1888 - 1946, E89; Z459 (pt); P103 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1927 - 1992, E231; N11; Z292; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Railways Union - Records, 1919 - 1968, M71; Z334; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Lloyd Ross Papers, 1885 - 1969, P103; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Maurice Mulheron Papers, 1953 - 1983, Z459; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1887 - 1975, 1979.0130; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1929 - 1976, 1989.0127; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1923 - 1987, 1989.0096; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, c. 1940 - c. 1980, 1988.0131; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1899 - 1975, 1988.0072; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1957 - 1976, 1987.0076; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1939 - 1986, 1986.0177; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1979 - 1983, 1985.0106; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1892 - 1972, 1985.0097; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Victorian Branch - Records, 1930 - 1976, 1985.0092; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details
• Australian Railways Union, Vigilance Committee - Records, 1956 - 1966, 1978.0064; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Butler-Bowdon, Eddie, In the Service?: A History of Victorian Railways Workers and their Union, Hyland House, South Yarra, Victoria, 1991, 180 pp. Details
• Hearn, Mark, Working Lives: A History of the Australian Railways Union (NSW Branch), Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1990, 221 pp. Details
• Mulheron, M., 50 Years of Signalling: History of the Signalmen's Section of the A.R.U N.S.W 1936-1986, Australian Railways Union (NSW Branch), Sydney, 1987. Details
• O'Brien, M., Trade Unions and The Railways, Australian Railways Union, Sydney, 1958, 7 pp. Details

Edited Books

• Murphy, D.J. (ed.), The Big Strikes, Queensland 1889-1965, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Queensland, 1983, 303 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Cribb, Margaret, 'State in Emergency: The Queensland Railway Strike of 1948', Labour History, vol. 24, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1973, pp. 225-248. Details
• Eather, Warwick, 'A City to Struggle in: Wagga Wagga and Labour, 1940-75', Labour History, vol. 78, 2000, pp. 141-154. Details
• Higgins, E.M., 'Queensland Labor: Trade Unionists versus Premiers', Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand, vol. 9, no. 34, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1960, pp. 140-155. Details
• Kennedy, K.H., 'The South Johnstone Strike and Railway Lockout, 1927', Labour History, vol. 31, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1976, pp. 1-13. Details

Theses

• Churchward, Alison, 'The Australian Railways Union, Railway Management and Railway Work in Victoria 1920-1939', PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1989. Details
• Holt, Steven J., 'A Veritable Dynamo: Lloyd Ross, the Australian Railways Union and Left-Wing Politics in Inter-War Australia', PhD thesis, Department of History, Australian National University, 1988. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 20: Trade Unions - Public Transport', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/041.html. Details

See also

• Stevens, Joyce, 'Without Fear or Favour: Lucie Barnes', in Windschuttle, Elizabeth (ed.), Women, Class and History : Feminist Perspectives on Australia, 1788-1978, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney, 1980, pp. 268-286. Details