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The Railway Industry at Home

Mr. J. H. Thomas, M. P., General Secretary of the National Union of Raiwaymen, was one of the principal speakers at the Annual Conference of the Union held in Bristol on 1st July. In the course of an interesting speech, Mr. Thomas, whilst emphasising the gravity of the Railway situation at Home, expressed his belief that the present difficulties (brought about chiefly through road competition), would be surmounted. “I am one who believes we shall be able to pull round,” said Mr. Thomas. “I believe the railwaymen will face the situation fairly and squarely. It is our duty to face this problem with a single-minded desire to do the right thing…. We have been faced with serious situations before and have pulled through but we shall not pull through by bickering or suspicion….”

Another interesting speech that created much interest at the Conference was that delivered by Mr. J. Gore, the new president of the National Union of Railwaymen. He said that practical railwaymen were able to contribute brains as well as brawn to the solution of the present railway problem. Urging co-operation between the management and the men, he said: “The word ‘co-operation’ can only mean both sides putting their best into the industry without either becoming suspicious of the other to obtain the maximum results—the managerial side increased dividends and the employees’ side more appropriate wages and improved conditions.” In order to attain this end, he concluded: “We should be unworthy of the trust imposed in us if we failed first to use peaceful methods, recognising that it is only through constitutional machinery that rates of wages or conditions of service can be varied.”