Mutual labour relations in the railway industry: Friendly societies, trade unions, and the state, 1838-1897

This dissertation argues that conflict is not inevitable in the wage nexus. Antagonism between capital and labour does not arise naturally from the payment of wages. It must be generated by the actions of labour organizers. Evidence to support this argument comes from the history of labour relations in the nineteenth-century British railway industry. These relations exhibited three dominant tendencies: paternalism; mutualism; and antagonism.; Paternalism involved regular interpersonal contact between employer and employee, a condition quickly rendered impossible by the growth of railway companies during the 1830s. Mutual labour relations shared the paternal concern with promoting a common interest between manager and worker but acknowledged the respectability and independence of railway employees. Relations of antagonism developed as the trade-union critique of the labour process encouraged confrontation between workers and management.; The creation and growth of friendly societies conditioned railway labour relations. Instituted by railwaymen and railway companies, these workers' insurance clubs facilitated the shift from paternalism to mutualism. Railway employees gained administrative autonomy, which encouraged stable relations between capital and labour. Relations of antagonism emerged during the financial crisis of the 1870s, when the combination of trade-union organizing and parliamentary legislation generated conflict between capital and labour in the railway industry.; Drawing on evidence from railway-company and friendly society records, the dissertation begins with an overview of the railway industry and the formation of railway friendly societies. Subsequent chapters trace the development of railway labour relations. These chapters argue that mutual relations emerged during the 1840s and 1850s, only to be weakened by economic depression and the rise of strong trade unions. The conclusion suggests some of the broader ramifications of this research, for both other industries and other countries.