"The history of women in modern industry is so far the history of tragedy. Coming into the World's Labour Market with almost complete lack of knowledge of its methods and innocent of the wiles of the capitalist, they have too often been exploited by employers in a manner which is entirely reprehensible."
W.E. Williams
President RCA, 1917 Annual Conference.
The railway industry has always been male dominated but in 1872 the North British Railway became the first company to staff its Telegraph Office at Waverley Station, Edinburgh mainly with women.1 One of these was E. Ashcroft, who later joined the RCA, and, most unusually at this time, worked in the same department for 48 years, retiring on superannuation in 1920. In the 1880s a number of women worked for the London and North-Western Railway, but when twelve women were engaged as clerks at Kings Cross, London, in March 1900, it provoked considerable discussion amongst RCA members, not least because they were only paid 12/- (60p) per week (considerably less than male clerks). Lower salaries for women were the norm but they were exploited in many other ways. Their standard day was 09.30 to 17.30; overtime was often worked to 20.30 without additional pay and, like their male colleagues, they did not receive additional pay for Bank Holidays and Sunday work. Some RCA members, including a number on the EC, were totally opposed to women doing clerical work, and one said that every effort should be made by the Association to convince the railway companies not to employ them, as female labour is a false economy
and it takes several years of service and intelligent application to become that mysterious entity, a good railwayman.
2 John Stopford-Challener shared this point of view and found it hard to believe that the experiment would succeed.3 Not everyone in the Association took such a negative approach but very few would have shared the opinion of a Great Eastern Railway clerk who hoped that the RCA would give women a very positive welcome.4 Male chauvinism played a major part in determining attitudes but the prospect of male rates of pay being reduced lay at the heart of this disquiet. It was intended to discuss the subject at the Leicester Conference in March 1900, but pressure of business forced it off the agenda. It was, however, raised at the 1900 Annual Conference in Cambridge when a paper, written by a District Secretary, was presented to delegates. Its tone reflected the opinions of Stopford-Challener, and it denigrated the suggestion that women were capable of being competent clerks. It concluded:
"I think the only thing we can do is to try and secure them fair and reasonable wages, and the result of this would be that the companies would find, taking them altogether, the value of the lady clerk was prohibitive."5
As for equal pay, that was simply out of the question. The Editor of the Railway Herald opposed equal pay, but he was generally supportive of women clerks. When it came to his attention that they were not allowed to work in the same area as men, he wrote a strong article pointing out the absurdity of this practice. He also recognised the importance of recruiting women to the RCA, and launched a campaign asking readers to let him have details of the duties, salaries, hours and workplaces of female clerks.6 Reservations regarding women's employment were not solely the prerogative of men. A railway clerk's wife thanked the Railway Herald for supporting women clerks but continued:
"There are many clerical positions on the railway which it would be impossible for a woman to fill, simply for the reason that she is not constituted to bear the worry and mental strain of particular railway clerical work, and positions that would be otherwise detrimental to her dignity as a woman."7
The purpose of employing women, was of course, exactly as feared, to reduce wage costs in order to maximise profits - thus increasing dividends for the shareholders. The directors had no other interest. Notwithstanding the members' concerns, it was eventually recognised that women should be recruited to the RCA. No progress was made until after the 1907 Annual Conference when it was agreed by a large majority that the Association should take steps to recruit them.8 The Executive produced a recruiting leaflet specifically aimed at women, and in the January 1908 issue of The Railway Clerk, "Melissa" commenced her Woman's Column which continued every month until 1916, by which time women contributors had become the norm. In the main, most women employed on the railways were engaged in telegraphy or clerical duties, but some worked in other capacities, and in 1906 there were Station Mistresses at Langford, near Maldon, Essex, and Rosemount, Scotland on the Caledonian Railway. At Dovenby, near Cockermouth, Elizabeth Davidson issued and collected tickets, managed the signals and did all the other necessary work in connection with the service.
The first Station Mistress in Ireland was Mary E. O'Donaghue who was appointed in 1898 at Craggaknock station in Co. Clare following the death of her father. She joined the RCA in 1921 and retired from her post in 1945.9 In 1911 women railway clerks were introduced on Irish railways;10 their starting salary was ten shillings (50p) per week and as this would not exceed 17s 6d (88p) even after twenty years, many were attracted to the Association. At the end of 1911, 3,787 women (of which 1,120 worked in offices) were employed on Britain's railways as clerks, ticket examiners and collectors. By 1914, their number had trebled, but even then, women still only constituted 2 per cent of the staff. Approximately 2,000 women were now employed in railway offices and the public had become accustomed to seeing women booking clerks but when two women were engaged as platform porters on the Great Central Railway in April 1915, it was considered a distinct novelty.
11
Resistance to the employment of women had not entirely ceased within the ranks of the RCA and A.G. Walkden, in a letter to one member recognised the weakness of our position in any attempt which might be made to take up an attitude of absolute opposition to the introduction of female clerk labour.
12 Walkden had by now become an enthusiastic supporter of women's suffrage; four months after the letter was written, the RCA adopted a policy of equal pay, and branches printed leaflet upon leaflet to encourage women to join the Association. The so-called novelty soon became a way of life and between 1914 and 1918, women were employed in a vast range of posts including cleaners, ticket examiners, labourers, engine cleaners and, on rare occasions, as station-"masters". It was, of course, the demands of Lord Kitchener and the War Cabinet that brought about such dramatic changes, and by October 1916 there were over 33,000 women employed within the railway industry, of whom 13,904 were clerks. By the end of the war, the total number of women employed was over 68,000.
The first woman joined the RCA in 1910, three years after the Association had taken its formal decision to bring them into membership. This was C. Greenlees, who was employed at the Caledonian Telegraph Office, but it would be five more years before Mamie Thompson13 (Oldham) at the age of 21, became the first woman delegate to attend the annual conference. To celebrate this historic occasion, the Irish members who hosted the 1915 Conference in Dublin presented her with a gold bracelet. That Mamie Thompson had been able to attend the conference was not without incident, as some men within her branch had made a determined effort to stop her going. Thompson had already made a significant contribution to the RCA as a Divisional Council Organiser for Women but some men simply refused to co-operate with her for no other reason than their distaste of being represented by a girl
.14 Mamie Thompson refused to be put off by such behaviour and she continued to play a significant role within the union. She wrote many articles for The Railway Clerk, organised Memorials to secure for women the War Bonuses that had been given to male employees and took an active part in the campaign for women's suffrage. The 1916 Annual Conference also had only one woman delegate; this was H.M. Knighton of the Weymouth branch, an active member of the Western Divisional Council. In 1917, 20 women attended Annual Conference, but by 1919 this number gradually decreased to 9. During the early 1920s the number of women delegates dropped to 3 and it would not be for many years that they would achieve the same representation as in 1917.
| Year | Delegates | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | 455 | 9 |
| 1928 | 461 | 5 |
| 1929 | 447 | 7 |
| 1930 | 494 | 10 |
| 1931 | 512 | 9 |
| 1932 | 503 | 4 |
| 1933 | 508 | 6 |
| 1934 | 509 | 10 |
| 1935 | 509 | 5 |
| 1936 | 512 | 8 |
| 1937 | 501 | 9 |
| 1938 | 519 | 9 |
| 1939 | 539 | 13 |
The RCA's campaign to recruit women did not go unnoticed by management. During 1915 a number of women in an Accountants Department in London signed a Memorial in an attempt to secure the War Bonus. Management reacted to this by asking every woman in the department to sign an undertaking, part of which read, We, the undersigned female staff in your Department, undertake not to join any Society or Association, without first obtaining your permission.
15 The clerks signed the document, but soon after, decided to join the RCA, and wished to revoke their undertaking. Fearful of management retribution, most were frightened to do so, and in the end only three women revoked their pledge. Following pressure from the Association, the pledge was withdrawn by management.
Threats and intimidation against RCA women members became common practice and another incident occurred when shorthand typists employed in the Chief Goods Manager's Office at Marylebone were considering joining the union. This came to the attention of their manager, who warned them of the consequences if they did so, and told them not to attend RCA branch meetings. The typists ignored his threat and, after they had attended the meeting, were interviewed by the manager and admitted that they had joined the RCA. They refused to resign their membership and were immediately transferred to another department where the wages were considerably lower.16 After a similar incident took place in the Accounts Office at Eastleigh it was now clear that a concerted effort was being made by management to restrict the progress that had been made by the union and inject a climate of fear into the new workforce.
Walkden took up the matter with the General Manager of the Great Central Railway Company, Sir Sam Fay, and told him that his managers had exceeded their duties, and requested the reinstatement of the typists at Marylebone. Walkden apparently expected a positive response as it was reported that our General expected Sir Sam Fay to put the matter right, seeing he was a strong Liberal, and such an earnest upholder of the cause of the working class.
17 Be that as it may, Fay ignored Walkden's letter and the General Secretary took the matter up with the President of the Board of Trade who agreed to discuss it with Fay. On behalf of the RCA, George Wardle raised the subject in the House of Commons on 2nd December 1915, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, E.G. Pretyman, responded that the railway company had no objections to their clerks joining a trade union except for those employed in confidential positions at their head offices.18 This was, of course, the same management strategy that had been defeated by the RCA in 1909 and could not be ignored. Sir Sam Fay defended his policy and wrote to all MPs, condemning the union for wasting valuable time when the energy of every man and woman should be devoted to the art or practice of killing Germans.
19 Not to be outdone, Wardle raised the subject again on the 16th December and attacked the Great Central Railway for denying union membership to some of its employees, declaring in a reference to Fay's earlier statement - We ought to kill the Prussianism in our midst.
20 The President of the Board of Trade defended Fay and praised him for his remarkable record but took the view that if the Great Central's policy had existed prior to the war, the matter should rest in abeyance until its conclusion. However, if the "rule" had been instituted since the war had commenced, he would ask the company to revert to the status quo.
The RCA held a different point of view and said that the issue was a matter of principle. Not only did the action of the Great Central Railway strike directly at the rights of over 1,000 clerks within the company, but indirectly at thousands more whose promotional prospects could be affected. Last, but by no means least, Fay's policy impugns the honour of the whole of the members of the Association.
21 Once again it was the principled approach of Walkden, the EC, and the determination of the membership not to be beaten by ruthless employers, that won the day. The document was withdrawn and the so-called "rule" that staff in head offices and district offices should not become members of the RCA was dropped.
The Great Central affair finally ended in the court room. Following the publication of an article in The Railway Clerk22 which detailed an incident between the Chief Assistant to the Audit Accountant of the Great Central Railway, Mr. A. Leigh, and one of his staff, an action for libel was brought by Leigh against Grays Inn Press, William Stott, and the Printers H. William and Son. The case, which was heard on 4/5th April 1916, had been initiated on the advice of Sir Sam Fay, with the Great Central Railway Company paying Leigh's expenses. Stott's article had dealt with the efforts of the women clerks who were attempting to obtain the War Bonus. This was not in dispute, but Stott had also written that Leigh had bullied one of the girls, reducing her to tears, and had said that he had a good mind to give them all a week's notice and replace them at half their wages. During the hearing, the accusation that Leigh had bullied his staff was denied, there had been no tears, it had been in fact, a friendly, jocular interview
.23 The jury accepted that the incident as detailed by Stott was incorrect and all the defendants were found guilty of libel and fined £600.
The first RCA Women's Conference was held at Leeds in July 1916; 93 delegates, employed in 17 separate companies and representing 46 branches, participated. The conference was very successful and for many it generated a lifelong interest in the Association. Among the subjects raised were special meetings for "lady clerks", a review of branch meeting places and women's participation in union work. The delegates called for a full page in The Railway Clerk to be devoted to matters affecting women and for a special pamphlet to be issued as quickly as possible. This was written by Frederick Dalley and called An Open Letter to a Lady Clerk. In 1916 the union had 49,068 members, of whom 3,378 were women, albeit in a minority of branches. The RCA's 277 branches now formed a network from John o' Groats to Land's End and from Lowestoft to Limerick, and claimed, with justification, to have become the largest union of office workers in the world.24
As part of the RCA's preparation for its annual conference, each branch had the opportunity to nominate and vote for delegates to the TUC, Labour Party and a number of women's organisations. The Association's record of participation in these women's conferences is second to none. A National Conference of Women organised by the Labour Party was held in London on 15th/16th October 1918 and the RCA delegation was represented by Miss Waters (Newcastle), Miss Young (Liverpool) and Miss H.A. Robertson (Glasgow). Two hundred and sixty organisations participated in the conference; 200 of these were Labour and trade union groups, and 60 came from women's professional and political bodies outside the Labour Party. The subject of the conference was "Women's Civic and Political Rights"; the debates covered the civil rights of women, maternity and child welfare, housing, the political organisation of women, prevention of venereal disease and food problems.
The RCA was one of the first four trade unions to respond to an approach made in 1920 by Dr. Marion Phillips, the Labour Party women's organiser, when she sought to involve trade unions in the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations. Elsie Orman25 (Kings Cross No. 1) and Rosina Frampton (South London) both attended. The role of the committee was to act as an advisory body to the Labour Party on women's questions, and as the co-ordinating body in promoting the demands of women in the Labour Party. In its inaugural year, the following groups were affiliated - RCA, Dock, Wharf, Riverside and General Workers' Union, National Union of General Workers, Workers' Union, Labour Party, Railway Women's Guild, National Federation of Women Workers, Women's Co-operative Guild and the Women's Trade Union League. Five years later its affiliates had increased to 23 organisations.
Under the auspices of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party, a conference was held in Glasgow on 4th September 1920, consisting of representatives of the women's section, trade unions that organised women, and Co-operative Women's Guilds. The RCA was represented by A.T. Allen (Glasgow) and Nettie Stewart (Glasgow North-East.) Six years later, the Scottish TUC called a Special Women's Conference in January 1926, and went on to recommend that a Women's Advisory Committee be formed. This led to a further conference being held in Glasgow on 18th September 1926. Fifty-seven delegates attended, with Nettie Stewart as the RCA's representative. The Advisory Committee was the first of its type in Britain and while the RCA was not represented on its first committee members soon became heavily involved in its work, none more so than Betty Lamont26 (Edinburgh No.1). Leicester was the venue for the first national Trade Union Conference of Women Workers. This took place on 20th March 1925 and was convened by the TUC General Council. The RCA was represented by Margaret M. Hughes27 (Gorton). The Leicester conference led to the first TUC Annual Women's Conference on 7th September 1926 but of the 72 unions affiliated to the TUC, only 33 sent delegates. The RCA delegation was composed of Ivy Moore28 (Swindon) and Nell Cocker29 (Manchester No. 3), with Ivy Moore taking part in the debate on the "Organising Campaign". She recounted her experiences of the General Strike and told the conference how her colleagues came to understand that Trade Unionism could stand for something more than just an effort to increase one's own wages.
30
At the end of the First World War there were 25,000 women railway clerks of whom 13,655 were members of the RCA. The majority of women were employed on a temporary basis and the RCA's policy was to ensure the reinstatement of all men who had been on war service even if it meant the discharge of women. Despite this, every effort was made to ensure that as few women as possible were dismissed, and by 1920 all clerks who wished to return to railway service had been reinstated. The only exception were the conscientious objectors. Nevertheless, with unemployment rising sharply, a few male members of the RCA called for women clerks to make way for ex-service men; the fact that some railway women had also joined the services was never considered by those who voiced such opinions. Fortunately, those men who complained were a small minority, and the leadership of the union played a progressive role in defending a woman's right to work. The changes that took place after the war were almost as dramatic as those between 1914-1918. By 1927 the total number of women employed on the railways had been reduced to 9,000, of whom 2,648 were members of the RCA.31
| Year | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | 19,121 | 30 |
| 1913 | 25,741 | 50 |
| 1914 | 29,294 | 100 |
| 1915 | 41,723 | 931 |
| 1916 | 45,458 | 3,378 |
| 1917 | 49,890 | 8,771 |
| 1918 | 57,786 | 13,655 |
| 1919 | 74,742 | 9,565 |
| 1920 | 78,171 | 8,883 |
| 1921 | 55,620 | 4,644 |
| 1922 | 48,156 | 2,981 |
| 1923 | 54,504 | 2,978 |
Source: Public Records Office Board of Trade Annual Returns.
The difference in the rate of pay between men and women continued to be a serious issue particularly as a woman's salary became more unequal the longer she remained employed. During 1919 the rate of pay for men and women at the age of 22 years working in London was 28/- (£1.40) and 25/- (£1.25) respectively. Men had the potential of increasing their salary to 38s 4d (£1.92) in London, but women's pay remained the same.32 The War Bonus had also been a bone of contention. Until August 1918, a woman's bonus was half that of a man's and even by the end of the war, women received only 20s 3d (£1.01) while men received 33s (£1.65). Walkden, W.E. Hill and four women members C. Greenlees, I. Moore, K. Ralph and E. Peters submitted evidence to a committee formed by the War Cabinet to investigate and report upon the relationship that should be maintained between the wages of men and women. The RCA argued for equal pay but when the committee reported in 1919 its conclusions failed to satisfy the Association.
Matters came to a head in 1920 following a meeting between the RCA and the Standing Committee of General Managers and although improvements were offered by the companies they fell far short of equal pay. The EC called a special conference of women members which took place in Birmingham on 4th July 1920 with 130 women delegates present. The offer was unanimously rejected and management was criticised for not resolving such matters as extra pay for London members, the War Bonus, overtime, Sunday pay and provision for sick leave with pay. A consultative sub-committee of seven women was then elected to assist the EC to press for better terms, including the principle of equal pay. Further negotiations took place on 26th August 1920 and even though the claim for equal pay was not met, substantial improvements were made and the first Women's Agreement came into force.
The progress made by the RCA in recruiting women during the war years introduced a new dynamic into the union. Women took an active part in the work of branches and Divisional Councils, and women's meetings were held throughout the length and breadth of Britain. The vitality generated by women members led to many important developments. In 1918 women had first raised the need to have a separate seat on the EC but the majority of women considered at that time that there should be no distinction between the sexes. When seats were provided for stationmasters and other grade representatives, women sought to achieve their own distinct voice within the EC. This was a long time coming, but after the 80 delegates at the 1927 RCA Women's Conference recommended that Divisional Councils should have women's committees and that women should have a seat on the EC, action was eventually taken. In November 1929 a special conference made a number of changes to the Association's rule book and this enabled Elsie Orman to be elected as the first woman member of the EC in 1930. This encouraged more women to join the Association, to take on positions of responsibility, and to challenge men for all leading positions within the Association.
[1]. The Railway Service Journal February 1920.
[2]. Railway Herald 21st April 1900.
[3]. Railway Herald 23rd November 1901.
[4]. Railway Herald 28th April 1900.
[5]. Railway Herald 6th October 1900.
[6]. Railway Herald 21st July 1900.
[7]. Railway Herald 28th July 1900.
[8]. The Railway Clerk June 1907.
[9]. The Railway Service Journal June 1945.
[10]. The Railway Clerk March 1911.
[11]. The Railway Review 9th April 1915.
[12]. Letter from A. G. Walkden to Mr Bevan 21st February 1914. Modern Records Centre, Warwick University. MSS.55B/3/WEH3.i.
[13]. Mary Elizabeth Thompson (Oldham). Also NUR branch secretary. Leading activist for amalgamation with NUR. Left railway July 1918 to become an organiser for ILP, then Labour Party. Married Frank Anderson MP and continued to attend RCA Conferences as a visitor for many years.
[14]. Interview with Joyce Husbands, a former RCA member and friend of Mamie Thompson. 21st March 1994.
[15]. The Railway Clerk February 1916.
[16]. The Railway Clerk December 1915.
[17]. Dundee Branch Minute Book.
[18]. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates 2nd December 1915 Vol 76 Col 849/850.
[19]. The Railway Clerk January 1916.
[20]. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates 16th December 1915 Vol 76 Col 2361.
[21]. The Railway Clerk January 1916.
[22]. The Railway Clerk December 1915.
[23]. The Railway Clerk Special Supplement April 1916.
[24]. An Open Letter to a Lady Clerk RCA publication.
[25]. E. O. Orman JP (King's Cross No.1). Joined RCA 1918. EC 1930-1933. Delegate to National Labour Women and Standing Joint Committee of Women's Industrial Organisations. Member Great Northern Salaries Movement Committee and national representative in negotiations that secured the 1920 Women's Agreement. Helped form Hornsey Labour Party. Parish Councillor 1930.
[26]. Betty Lamont (Edinburgh No.1). EC 1933-1939. Divisional Council Women's Organiser. Scottish TUC Women's Advisory 1931-1947, chairman 1937-1938.
[27]. M. M. Hughes (Gorton). First woman to represent RCA at TUC, 1930.
[28]. I. F. Moore (Swindon). Joined railway 1915. Secretary Western Divisional Council Women's Committee. 1926 Swindon Strike Committee; delegate to Swindon Trades Council 1935-1958. Joined Labour Party 1917.
[29]. N. Cocker (Manchester No.3). Joined railway 1915. First woman branch chairman. Represented the RCA on many delegations.
[30]. Report of First TUC Annual Women's Conference 1926.
[31]. The Railway Service Journal January 1927.
[32]. Women in Industry Parliamentary Report 1919.
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