Australian Railways Union
{{Short description|Australian transport industry trade union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox union
| name = ARU
| full_name = Australian Railways Union
| native_name =
| native_name_lang=
| image =
| founded = 1920
| predecessor =
| successor =
| dissolved = 1 March 1993
| merged = Public Transport Union
| members = 50,000 (1976)
| publication =
| location_country= Australia
| key_people =
| headquarters = 377 Sussex Street, Sydney
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
The Australian Railways Union (ARU) was an Australian trade union in existence from 1920 to 1993. The ARU was an industrial union, representing all types of workers employed in the rail industry, excluding locomotive enginedrivers and tradesmen in craft areas.
History
It was formed in September 1920, through the amalgamation of state-based unions in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and was federally registered as a union on 8 February 1921. In 1976 it supported the anti-nuclear movement by carrying out a national strike which halted the transport of uranium.{{Cite web |last=Schoolmeester |first=Kelly |date=2021-09-30 |title=Australians Campaign against Nuclear Power and Uranium Mining, 1974-1988 |url=https://commonslibrary.org/australians-campaign-against-nuclear-power-and-uranium-mining-1974-1988/ |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}} It merged with three other public transport unions in 1993 to form the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union.{{cite web|url=https://www.atua.org.au/biogs/ALE0234b.htm |title=Australian Railways Union (1921 - 1993) |publisher=Australian Trade Union Archives |accessdate=3 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311042404/http://www.atua.org.au/biogs/ALE0234b.htm |archivedate=11 March 2016 }}{{cite web | url=http://archivescollection.anu.edu.au/index.php/australian-railways-union | title=Australian Railways Union | publisher=Noel Butlin Archives Centre | accessdate=3 October 2015}}