NZ Railway Unions

The following text is largely a summary of the first few chapters of the publication The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of N. Z. Golden Jubilee

1886 - The Workers need a voice

The first 15 years of railway development under the Vogel Scheme were all focused on getting as many miles of railway track constructed as possible and as many trains as possible running on those tracks. It created a situation where the bosses very much ruled the roost and the workers were there to follow the orders. It created a working environment where wages were low and working hours long, and minor "offences" were harshly punished. It is no surprise then that a certain tension existed between workers and management.

With some staff having had previous work experience on railways 'back home' in Britain, they also had an understanding of how workers could organise themselves to create a united voice for improvement in their working conditions. The honour of setting the wheels in motion for this to occur in New Zealand, goes to 5 Auckland men, four Guards; Christopher Leek, Tom Wade, Bill Tate and Jack Lowe, and a senior porter and Steve Moulden. They accidentally met one day when the conversation undoubtedly turned to working conditions. Chris was the driving force, having been associated with the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, so had a real understanding of how an organised voice could make a difference. The five agreed to work on establishing a similar organisation for New Zealand railway workers. That was early 1886, and an opportunity to meet with a larger group materialised after the funeral for a co-worker who died following an unfortunate work accident. A more formal meeting was called for the following day (March 8th 1886) and attended by 15 workers, the majority guards, and they collectively formed the first committee. Further meetings during March saw a Society formed, which was to be called The Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of New Zealand. Membership was by an entrance fee of 2/6d (25c) with weekly contributions of 3d (2.5c) soon increased to 6d (5c), a set of rules was adopted based on the British Society (which by then had been renamed the "National Union of Railwaymen"), and so New Zealand's first union was formed.

From our modern perspective, there were a couple of unique features to this organisation, firstly, membership was open to anyone employed by the Government Railways using the mantra of "One industry, one Union", and secondly, grievances were being channeled through the Auckland Trades and Labour Council as the Society was at this stage not formally recognised by the Railway Management who strongly opposed membership by their employees.

Rapid growth and action

The ASRS was quick to affiliate itself with other unions, particularly the Auckland Trade and Labour Council and the Maritime Council. Towards the end of 1889 saw the establishment of branches in all the main centres of railway activity, and so the ASRS quickly became a national entity. 1890 saw its first national conference, it also marked the year Richard Seddon became Minister of Public Works (which included Railways) and some measure of progress was able to be made in representing the Union's requests to Railway Management.

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