Railway trade unions in Australia

Railway Unions in Australia organised labour of railway employees in Australia operated under federal and State awards - this is a partial list of known unions. Many of the unions amalgamated over time, creating a complex trail of ancestry for some of the later unions.

Federal Award unions

The following unions were based on federal - Australian wide awards {{Cite web | url=http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/041.html | title=Parties to the Award, Pedigree Charts ~ Federally Registered Trade Unions, page 41 }}

Association of Railway Professional Officers of Australia (1921 - )
Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen
Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union, RTBU (1993 - )
Australian Railways Union, ARU (1921 - 1993)The Australian Railways Union formed in September 1920 with the amalgamation of the Queensland Railways Union, the New South Wales Amalgamated Railway and Tramway Service Association, the Victorian Railway Union, the Railway and Tramway Employees Association of South Australia and the Tasmanian Railway Union. It was the first Australian all-grades organisation of railway workers and was federally registered on 8 February 1921. In 1993 the ARU merged with other unions to form the Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union. - {{URL|http://archives-dev.anu.edu.au/icaatom-1.3.0/index.php/australian-railways-union-tasmanian-branch-deposit-2;isad}}{{Dead link | date=February 2025 | fix-attempted=yes}}
Australian Tramway and Motor Omnibus Employees' Association
Australian Transport Officers' Federation
Commonwealth Engine Drivers & Firemens Association of Australia (1918 - 1925)
Commonwealth Railway Officers Association (1917 - 1950)
Federated Tramways Officers Association (1920 - 1949)
National Union of Rail Workers of Australia (1982 - 1993)

New South Wales

Australian Railways Union - N.S.W. Branch {{Citation | author1=Australian Railways Union. N.S.W. Branch | title=Report of the Australian Railways Union N.S.W. State Branch ... : State Secretary's report, financial statement and balance sheet | publication-date=1900 | publisher=The Branch | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34992333 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}

South Australia

Australian Railways Union - South Australian Branch {{Citation | author1=Australian Railways Union. Western Australian Branch | title=On-track | publication-date=1900 | publisher=A.R.U., W.A. Branch | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18968073 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
Australasian Society of Engineers - South Australia {{Citation | author1=Saunders, Malcolm | author2=Lloyd, Neil | title=Arbitration or collaboration? The Australasian Society of Engineers in South Australia, 1904-68.(Essay) | journal=Labour History: A Journal of Labour and Social History | publication-date=2011-11-01 | publisher=Australian Society for the Study of Labour History | issue=101 | pages=123(22) | issn=0023-6942 }}

Tasmania

Australian Railways Union - Tasmanian Branch {{Citation | author1=Australian Railways Union. Tasmanian Branch | title=Tasmanian railway review : the official publication of the Tasmanian Branch of the Australian Railways Union | publication-date=1976 | publisher=The Union | issn=0313-2374 }}

Victoria

Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen (Victorian Division) {{Citation | author1=Australian Railways Union. Victorian Branch | author2=Australian Federated Union of Locomotives Enginemen. Victorian Division | title=ABC always be careful : a manual showing how to work strictly to regulations on the Victorian railways | publication-date=1954 | publisher=Industrial Print | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33053749 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
Australian Railways Union - Victoria {{Citation | author1=Australian Railways Union. Victorian Branch | title=Gazette : official organ of the Australian Railways Union (Victorian Branch) | publication-date=1981 | publisher=The Branch | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12931876 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
Victorian Railways Transportation Employees Association (1906 - 1950)
Train & Locomotive Drivers Association of Victoria (2017 - )

Western Australia

Some of the following unions were the railway related unions in Western Australia.Found listed at Transport industry union records, 1899-2001 [manuscript] in Battye Library at [https://web.archive.org/web/20040122202918/http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b1720572]

Association of Draughting, Supervisory and Technical Employees
Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees (see below, Western Australian...)
Australian Railways Union (Western Australian Branch)
Railway Industry Council
Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union
Western Australian Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees' Union of Workers {{Citation | author1=West Australian Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees' Union of Workers | title=Rules of the West Australian Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees' Union of Workers | publication-date=1930 | publisher=West Australian Amalgamated Society of Railways Employees Union of Workers | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8521805 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}{{Citation | author1=West Australian Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees Union of Workers | title=Official report of proceedings of the triennial Conference | publication-date=1900 | publisher=The Union | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/32651582 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}{{Citation | author1=West Australian Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees | title=The railway news : the official organ of the W.A. Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees | publication-date=1902 | publisher=The Society | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/28939326 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
Western Australian Association of State Railway Employees
Locomotive Engine Drivers’ Firemen's and Cleaners’ Union of Western Australia
(earlier known as West Australian Locomotive Engine Drivers' Firemen's and Cleaners' Union of Workers)
West Australian Railway Officers’ Union {{Citation | author1=West Australian Railway Officers' Union | title=Award, constitution, rules and by-laws, standing orders, Railway by-law no. 66, dated September, 1962 | publication-date=1962 | publisher=Perth | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/157830067 | accessdate=24 March 2013 }}{{Citation | author1=Railway Officers Union (W.A.) | title=Railway Officers Union (W.A.) records, 1896-1994 | publication-date=1896 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/38155223 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
Western Australian Railway Unions Joint Executive {{Citation | author1=Western Australian Railway Unions Joint Executive | title=40 - hour working week : why? : what is necessary : your part | publication-date=1937 | publisher="Worker" Print | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18138022 | accessdate=15 February 2014 }}
West Australian Vehicle Builders’ Industrial Union of Workers

Records and archives

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre at Australian National University is one of the more significant repositories of railway union records in Australia {{Cite web | title=Noel Butlin Archives Centre - ANU Archives | url=http://archives-dev.anu.edu.au/icaatom-1.3.0/index.php/noel-butlin-archives-centre;isdiah | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419001810/http://archives-dev.anu.edu.au/icaatom-1.3.0/index.php/noel-butlin-archives-centre;isdiah | access-date=2025-02-16 | archive-date=2013-04-19}}

Notes

Category:Trade unions in Australia

Category:Railway unions in Australia