Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
# Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants

The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom from 1872 until 1913.

## History

The ASRS was an industrial union founded in 1871 with the support of the Liberal MP Michael Thomas Bass. Its early years were difficult. In 1872 the ASRS reported having 17,247 members but by 1882 this had declined to only 6,321.

In 1880 the ASRS's growth was challenged by the foundation of two railway craft unions: the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen and the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society. A fourth union, the General Railway Workers' Union, was founded in 1889.

In 1899, the ASRS introduced a resolution at the Trades Union Congress to form a joint Labour Representation Committee with other trade unionist, socialist, and co-operative groups. This led to the formation of the Labour Party to contest parliamentary elections under the chairmanship of Ramsay MacDonald.

In 1900 the ASRS proposed amalgamation with ASLEF but ASLEF proposed federation with the drivers and firemen of the ASRS. A Scheme of Federation was drafted and ASLEF's triennial conference adopted it in 1903. There were joint meetings of the Executive Committees of the two unions until 1906 when relations broke down.

In 1907 the Board of Trade set up a Conciliation Board between railway employees and their employers, but its operation dissatisfied many workers and ASLEF's General Secretary nicknamed it the "Confiscation" Board. By this point, the ASRS had grown significantly, with 97,561 members in 1907, making it one of the country's largest trade unions.

In August 1911 the ASRS, ASLEF, GRWU and UPSS jointly called the United Kingdom's first national rail strike. In only two days the joint action succeeded in forcing the Liberal Government to set up a Royal Commission to examine the workings of the Conciliation Board.

In 1913 the ASRS, GRWU and UPSS merged, forming the National Union of Railwaymen.

## Election results

The ASRS affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee when it was founded, in 1900, and sponsored candidates for the party and its successor, the Labour Party at each subsequent election. Several candidates were elected, including many in Derby, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Stockport, who won one of the two seats available in each of those constituencies.

| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % share | Position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1900 general election | Derby | Richard Bell | 7,640 | 25.7 | 2 |
| 1906 general election | Birmingham East | James Holmes | 5,343 | 47.4 | 2 |
| 1906 general election | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Walter Hudson | 18,869 | 31.1 | 1 |
| 1906 general election | Stockport | George Wardle | 7,299 | 32.4 | 1 |
| 1907 by-election | Kingston upon Hull West | James Holmes | 4,512 | 29.1 | 3 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Derby | James Henry Thomas | 10,189 | 27.9 | 2 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Walter Hudson | 18,241 | 28.1 | 2 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Stockport | George James Wardle | 6,682 | 28.0 | 1 |
| 1910 Dec general election | Derby | James Henry Thomas | 9,144 | 34.1 | 2 |
| 1910 Dec general election | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | Walter Hudson | 16,447 | 28.0 | 2 |
| 1910 Dec general election | Stockport | George James Wardle | 6,094 | 26.9 | 2 |
| 1912 by-election | Crewe | James Holmes | 2,485 | 17.7 | 3 |

## Leadership

### General Secretaries

    1871: George Chapman
    1874: Fred W. Evans
    1883: Edward Harford
    1897: Richard Bell
    1909: J. E. Williams

### Assistant Secretaries

    1883: Thomas Watson
    1889: Edward Garrity
    1902: J. E. Williams
    1910: J. H. Thomas

### Presidents

    1872: J. Baxter Langley
    1874: John David Jenkins
    1877: Peter Stewart Macliver
    1892: Walter Hudson
    1899: George Thaxton
    1902: W. G. Loraine
    1905: James Henry Thomas
    1907: James Reed Bell
    1910: Edward Charles
    1911: Albert Bellamy
