Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen

[5] Brotherhoods organized by craft represented Locomotive Engineers, Conductors, Firemen, Trackmen, Switchmen, Carmen and Telegraphers.The brotherhoods provided social and educational benefits, insurance and relief, and helped resolve disputes between members and employees.[6] An 1887 publication by the BRT laid out its goals: Railway managers and superintendents recognize in the Brotherhood a school for the mental, moral and physical improvement of its members, and consequently a better and more desirable class of men, who can be depended upon at all times, and into whose care and watchfulness thousands of lives and millions of dollars worth of property can be safely entrusted.[9] In 1902 Morrissey provided support when Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor called for help for striking coal miners in West Virginia.[9] In January 1909 William Granville Lee was elected grand-master of the BRT, and relocated to the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.During negotiations in 1919-20 on returning the lines to private ownership he helped to break a wildcat strike by the Switchmen's Union of North America.[16] He called for guarantees that the government would ensure absorptive employment, consult with the unions on any changes and prevent carriers from interfering with labor's right to organize.Three of the unions were willing to suspend their demands, but Whitney and Alvanley Johnston, leader of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, called a strike of their members to start on 16 March 1946.[19] The strike stranded travelers, prevented movement of perishable goods and caused concern that many people in war-devastated Europe would starve if grain shipments were delayed.[23] Truman broadcast an appeal to the strikers to return to work, saying "It is inconceivable that in our democracy any two men should be placed in a position where they can completely stifle our economy and ultimately destroy our country."[1] On 25 August 1950 President Truman issued an order for the federal government to take control of the 131 major railroads in the United States.[27] In the late 1950s, the union's Department of Legal Counsel (connecting injured members to prescreened attorneys) ran afoul of the Virginia State Bar.However, the union appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which in 1964 found the prosecution violated the railroad workers' first amendment right to associate, citing NAACP v. Button and Gideon v.[29] 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.