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| F. C. Murnan - Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Occupational Shaving Mug |
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| F. C. Murnan - Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Occupational Shaving Mug |
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| F. C. Murnan - Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Occupational Shaving Mug |
See also on this site: Railroad Brotherhoods History and Their Fraternal Shaving Mugs by Joseph Albanese
RAILROAD BROTHERHOODS
"Along with many other pioneering labor organizations in the nineteenth-century America, organizations of railroad workers took the name "brotherhoods" in token of their partly fraternal purposes. The most powerful of the railroad brotherhoods was those formed in the operating trades-those directly involved with moving trains. These included the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (founded in 1863), the Order of Railway Conductors (1868), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (1873), and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (founded in 1883 as the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen). Sometimes grouped with "the Big Four" was the Switchmen's Union (1894), "who were responsible for making up trains and for controlling the track switches within a yard. Numerous other unions were founded to represent non-operating railroad employees such as the trackmen (1887), railway clerks (1899), and sleeping car porters (1925). Though the operating brotherhoods represented less than one-fifth of all railroad employees, they dominated the history of organized labor in the railroad industry.
Although rail transportation has declined, the fraternal shaving mugs of these brotherhoods represent a period of our history when railroads were a central part of our daily lives."
Wikipedia: Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen
The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) was a labor organization for railroad employees founded in 1883. It was originally called the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen. Its purpose was to negotiate contracts with railroad management and to provide insurance for members. The BRT grew to become the largest brotherhood of operating railroad employees. In 1969 it merged with three other unions to form the United Transportation Union.