Railway Workers Research Articles

Railway workers in Second World War: Towards a reconciliation in historiography?

New developments in research about the role of railway workers in the holocaust reopen the historical discussion and the public debates on the responsibility of agencies and individuals in the deportation of the Jews during Second World War. The role of French railway employees is central in the controversy. This paper, focusing on new publications regarding the case of France, aims to summarize the debate and offers two main questions, which still ask for more historical investigation.

Analysis of the stability control of the car with the admission to the infrastructure

The rolling stock and the railway track are a single stant tendency of the development of rail transport in relation to mechanical system. The running parts of the rolling stock and the the interaction of the power wheel-to-rail friction pair consists in track are interacting under difficult dynamic conditions. The con-increasing the axle load on the rails for freight rolling stock and further increasing the speed of the passenger trains. It takes a qualified approach to traffic safety issues and special attention to the stability of rolling stock to achieve these goals. An analysis of the stability control of the car with an admission to the infrastructure was carried out based on the regulatory documents that establish the main provisions and procedures for the operation of railways and railway workers. Authors proposed the elimination of existing shortcomings and ensuring the stability of the carriage motion by optimizing parameters of the placement of goods in the car. Calculations were made on the rollover stability conditions (stability loss) of the body and the criterion of the critical speed at which the carriage derailed due to the loss of contact of the wheels with the internal rail line of the curve. A method for controlling the stability of a car with a load by means of two-position weighing is proposed. The results obtained also make it possible to determine the height of the common center of gravity (CG), the magnitude of the longitudinal and lateral displacement of the center of gravity of the freight.

TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY: A TRAVEL INTO THE TIME

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].ABSTRACT The Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD) in every possible way promotes the exchange of experience and study tours for representatives of participating countries and affiliated enterprises. Broad international contacts allow developing mutual understanding, strengthening business ties, transferring knowledge, maintaining historical continuity in the field of railway traffic. At the end of July last year a group of Polish railway workers returned from the Trans-Siberian Railway journey. Judging by the published notes, they had the opportunity to satisfy not only professional interest, but also got acquainted with the history of the Trans-Baikal Territory, the past of the Buryat and Mongolian people. The modern locomotive, unwillingly, became a «time machine» for travelers. Keywords: Trans-Siberian Railway, TransSib, Trans-Baikal, retrospective, OSJD.

Політична діяльність Анастасії Грінченко: між Конотопом, Петербургом та Києвом

On the basis of archival materials it is described Anastasiia Grinchenko’s political activity in Poltava region (June 1906 — May 1907). Her activity in Hadiach, Konotop and St. Petersburg is discussed in the article. It is clarified, that Nastia Grinchenko, under the conditions of the second State Duma elections, widespreads agitation among the general masses of the “Union”, class consciousness of the proletariat by criticizing the programs and tactics of the opposition parties. It is revealed Nastia Grinchenko’s view on future social structure and the ways of its achievement that were formed in the context of the study and distribution of illegal Marxist literature, campaigning and debate among workers in Hadiach and Konotop. On the basis of correspondence with parents, her difficult choice between the desire to study in St. Petersburg and political activity is highlighted. It is underlined her choice was implemented in dangerous and exhausting work among rural and railway workers in order to change their consciousness and social order. Such choice required cooperation with the RSDWP to overcome the common enemy — autocracy. Imprisonment, unbearable, as for a young girl, labour, sleep deprivation, malnutrition, asceticism, exhausted the young organism and led to a serious illness. It is found out that, besides Anastasiia Grinchenko, a member of the “Union”, Mykola Sakharov, also actively worked in this period. Their interrelations and mutual influence are determined.

Risco de burnout e trauma em profissionais da ferrovia com e sem experiência em acidentes

Risco de burnout e trauma em profissionais da ferrovia com e sem experiência em acidentes

Перфузионная сцинтиграфия миокарда и чрескожное коронарное вмешательство у пациентов со стенозирующим поражением коронарных артерий

Purpose of research. To study the relationship of varying degrees of stenotic lesions of the coronary arteries (CA) with the results of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy in railway workers before and after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Material and methods. The study included 130 patients with SC stenosis more than 50% of the lumen (according to the results of invasive coronary angiography), all underwent single - photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the myocardium according to the two - day Protocol stress + rest”. When comparing the obtained data, the patients were divided into groups according to the degree of SC stenosis. Results. In 83 patients (group 1), SC stenosis was detected from 50 to 85%, in 47 patients (group 2) SC were stenosed by 85% or more. In ofect persistent defect of myocardial perfusion occurred in 32% of cases, reversible defect of perfusion (deterioration of perfusion in the sample with the load) - in 51%, deterioration of myocardial perfusion at rest (compared with the load) - in 17% of cases. In 56% of patients of the 1st group the deterioration of myocardial perfusion was revealed in the load test. In 60% of patients of group 2 myocardial perfusion disorders were persistent or worse than in the load test. Silent myocardial ischemia was diagnosed in 74% of patients of group 1 and 98% of patients of group 2. Every third patient with SMI conducted percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), of whom half after PCI held SPECT of the myocardium. There were no cases of worsening myocardial perfusion in group 2 after PCI. In group 1, 6 cases out of 9 showed deterioration of myocardial perfusion or no effect of PCI. Conclusion. Stenotic lesions of KA less than 85% was associated with a higher incidence of deterioration of myocardial perfusion in the test with a load, whereas the CA stenosis more than 85% more likely to worsen the myocardial perfusion alone. All cases of worsening myocardial perfusion after PCI were observed in patients with SC stenosis less than 85%.

Asbestos exposure biomarkers in the follow-up of asbestos-exposed workers.

Health surveillance of asbestos exposed workers should be stratified according to the exposure level. Unfortunately there is a lack of information regarding asbestos exposure in many working places and markers of asbestos exposure are often needed. The aim of the study was to assess the reliability of different dose and effect biomarkers in the follow up of asbestos-exposed workers. Mineralogical analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as a biomarker of asbestos fibre burden was performed in a population of 307 male subjects occupationally exposed to asbestos. Using nonparametric statistical methods 8 variables were analyzed with respect to asbestos-related diseases and working sectors. The existence of a relationship between serum soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) and asbestos exposure levels was also investigated. Concentrations of amphiboles, chrysotile and asbestos bodies in BALF were higher in patients with asbestosis as well as in railway industry workers. A correlation between the onset of non malignant asbestos-related diseases and the levels of SMRP concentration was not found. This study confirms that fibre concentration in BALF may be considered as a reliable biomarker of previous asbestos exposure, whereas SMRP does not appear to be influenced by asbestos exposure levels.

Revolutionary Ireland and Transnational Labour Solidarity on the Victorian Railways: The Case of Alex Morrison and Tom Wilson, 1921–22

In 1921, the Victorian railways became a site of contested loyalties surrounding the response of the Australian labour movement to the Irish revolution. This paper will examine the case of Alex Morrison and Tom Wilson, two non-Irish shop stewards of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Railways Union (ARU) victimised by the Lawson Government in March 1921 for publicly sympathising with Irish railway workers killed by the “Black and Tans” in Cork during the Anglo-Irish War. The controversy, which coincided with the birth of the Self-Determination for Ireland League, became a focus for both an Empire loyalist backlash and a labour movement defence campaign in the lead up to the 1921 State Election. It marked a moment at which the Irish crisis of 1916-23 catalysed organised campaign activity in the industrial wing, in addition to the political wing, of the Australian labour movement. Framed within the paradigm of international labour solidarity instead of Irish diaspora, the stance of Morrison and Wilson reflected the mutual entanglement of Irish-Australian and labour internationalist allegiances in the wake of both the Australian conscription plebiscites and the Russian Revolution. A “view from below” of the “Irish Question” in the Victorian railways presents an alternative, if parallel, form of transnational politicisation around Ireland to that of “long-distance nationalism.”

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ ЗМІСТУ ФАХОВОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ ЗАЛІЗНИЧНИКІВ У КОНТЕКСТІ АПРОБАЦІЇ ДУАЛЬНОЇ ФОРМИ НАВЧАННЯ

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ ЗМІСТУ ФАХОВОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ ЗАЛІЗНИЧНИКІВ У КОНТЕКСТІ АПРОБАЦІЇ ДУАЛЬНОЇ ФОРМИ НАВЧАННЯ

ПРОБЛЕМИ ОХОРОНИ ПРАЦІ НА ЗАЛІЗНИЧНОМУ ТРАНСПОРТІ

In the article the questions of labor protection in the state and branch aspects are considered. The urgency of the issue of labor protection is emphasized, despite the positive dynamics of industrial injuries. The decline in industrial injuries is largely due to the decline in production, rather than the corresponding preventive measures. Attention is focused on the inconsistency of certain indicators with the requirements of the International Labor Organization. A special imbalance is observed in the ratio of the number of fatal accidents to the total number of accidents at work. The main problems of labor protection in railway transport are outlined, as well as the tasks that must be solved to improve the safety of railway workers.

“Mal-estar entre os ferroviários”: a relação entre o Estado, a CVRD, o SINDFER e os trabalhadores de 1957 a 1961

<p>Esse artigo toma o jornal do Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCB), <strong>Folha Capixaba</strong>, no período de 1957 até 1961, como base para estudar as relações estabelecidas entre o poder de Estado, a direção da Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), o Sindifer (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Empresas Ferroviárias de Vitória) e os trabalhadores. Buscamos identificar as estratégias usadas por comunistas e trabalhistas como mediadores no interior desse arranjo de poder. Para tanto, discutimos com a literatura especializada e buscamos uma solução interpretativa que não seja unilateral no sentido dos mecanismos de controle ou cooptação, das dinâmicas internas das lideranças e das realidades vividas pelos ferroviários. Além disso, acompanhamos as circunstâncias mutantes de uma conjuntura complexa e rica, nas quais os atores por vezes se aliaram ou se afastaram, mas tendo sempre que dar respostas satisfatórias às pressões de suas bases e tendo em vista os limites estabelecidos. </p>

Ergonomic Intervention on the Occupational Stress of Selective Railway Workshop’s Fitters

In India, progressively rigorous health, safety and environmental regulation, together with rapid technological advances have caused job demands of man machine interface. Any deviations in implementing rules and regulations leave many workers at severe risks. In different railway workshops where periodic overhauling (POH) of different coaches and locomotives are obtained, the exhaustive nature of work results strain within the workers. Unfortunately physiological work studies on railway workers are highly inadequate in India. The present study is aimed to relate the ergonomic intervention on the occupational stress of railway workshop’s fitters. Working heart rate (WHR) is measured continuously during their work schedule by portable heart rate monitor. Recovery heart rate and other essential occupational stress indexes are also measured along with total working environmental details. The working heart rate (WHR) of the subjects are found as 138 beats/min (bpm) and 121 bpm for the junior (age 40 years), respectively. Net cardiac cost (NCC) and relative cardiac cost (RCC) values exhibit their range in a non-safe zone. No recovery in resting heart rate denotes the hostile environmental effect on the worker’s physiology. The effective temperature (ET) and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of work site cross the recommended value. Clear evidences of a direct relationship between occupational hazard and fatigue is found and it can be considered as an environmental stresses which, in conjunction with other environmental and host factors induced a chronic fatigue that lead to non-specific health disorders.

„Świadek zeznał, co następuje...” Protokoły przesłuchania polskich pracowników kolei pracujących na stacjach w okolicy obozów akcji „Reinhardt”

The article presents a selection of immediate post-war testimonies of Polish railway workers, who served at train stations at Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka. Testimonies, collected during investigations conducted by Polish authorities regarding the death camps, reviles the level of awareness of Polish witnesses to the crimes conducted at the Operation Reinhardt death camps.

THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT OF INDONESIAN RAILWAYS WORKERS UNION (SPKA) AGAINST PT. KERETA API (PERSERO) IN POST REFORM

The momentum of freedom after the New Order regime was utilized by railway workers to establish the Indonesian Railway Workers Union (SPKA) on 13 September 1999. The existence of SPKA is a place in voicing the demand for civil servant status and welfare improvement as a result of the Decree of the Minister of Transportation No.18 on Dismissal of Employees as Civil Servants of the Railway Service Company (PJKA). The return of civil servant status becomes more difficult to be realized when the company returns to PT. Kereta Api (Persero) thus strengthening the SPKA to conduct resistance movement against the company post-Reformation. This study aims to explain how the SPKA movement takes advantage of political opportunities in order to urge the government and company to fulfill their demands. The object of research that becomes the author's focus is SPKA in launching the struggle movement demanding the return of civil servant status and the improvement of welfare.Using a documentary study and depth interview, this paper was built in descriptive-analytical way that helped the authors in explaining the political opportunities that were open after the Reformation. The author found four forms of political opportunity that exist and can be used by SPKA to conduct resistance movement that is reorganization of SPKA, openness of political access post Reformation, improvement of business climate in Indonesia, and management problem of the company. These four political opportunities correspond to the indicators of political opportunities in the social movement proposed by Tilly, Tarrow, and Schock.By utilizing the momentum of post-Reform freedom and political opportunities, the SPKA movement was able to pressure governments and corporations to meet their demands. This research is expected to be an academic contribution in the study of social movements and labor politics in the future. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2017.32.11751191 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Risk factors and psychoemotional features, influencing the development of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular risk of fatal events among workers of railway transport with arterial hypertension

Purpose - to analyze the risk factors and psychoemotional features influencing the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), to assess the cardiovascular risk of fatal events among workers of railway transport with arterial hypertension (AH). Materials and methods. The study includes the railway workers: 50 patients with AH, 45 with cardiovascular risk factors but without AH and 20 healthy volunteers. We evaluate the level of blood pressure (BP) at home and in the office, anthropometrical indicators, levels of total cholesterol and glucose in blood plasma with an empty stomach, the patient's anamnesis: family history, smoking status, were studied. Estimate of 10-year risk of death from CVD in individuals without clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis 40 years and older is carried out according to the SCORE scale. Assessment of anxiety and depressive disorders is conducted using the scale of personal and situational anxiety Spielberg-Hanina and the scale of depression of Beck. Results. The basic clinical and laboratory data from patients shows a significant (p

THE MONOGRAPH ABOUT TRANSPORT TRADE UNIONS

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].REVIEW OF THE BOOK: Zubkov, S. A., Krainov, G.N. Transport unions as part of the international trade union movement. Monograph. Moscow, INFRA-M publ., 2017, 297 p. ABSTRACT The book, published in the series «Scientific Thought», is devoted to the study of transport unions as components of the international trade union movement. The authors draw attention to the history, current state and problems of the international trade union movement, t h e processes of globalization, cooperation and coordination of the actions of international transport unions. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the trade union movement in rail transport, the participation of the Russian trade union of railway workers and transport builders in the international trade union movement. Keywords: trade union, transport unions, international trade union movement, International Confederation of Trade Unions (ITUC), World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), International Workers’ Association (IWA), Global Federation of Trade Unions (GUF), International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITWF), International Committee of Transport Workers’ Propaganda (ICTWP), Profintern, International Confederation of Trade Unions of Railway Workers and Transport Builders (ICRW), Russian Union of Railway Workers and Transport Builders (ROSPROFZHEL).

Violation causes from the perspectives of managers and workers in Chinese railway systems: An exploratory study

The objective of this study was to understand violation causes by Chinese railway workers, and how safety culture and personal cultural values influence their violations. We conducted a survey to investigate violation causes, perceived violation risk, violation frequency, and personal cultural values of Chinese railway workers and the safety culture of the Chinese railway system. The survey was completed by 150 railway employees (including workers and managers), from two province capital railway stations. We found that managers mainly attribute workers’ violations to saving time and energy and increasing ease, whereas they do not realize the incorrectness, impracticality, and risk of safety rules and the influence of adverse conditions and strict supervision on violations. In addition, managers perceived lower risk on all types of violations than railway workers did, especially on exceptional and optimizing violations. They believed that approaches to decreasing optimizing violations primarily involved enhancing enforcement and strengthening supervision. However, these approaches tend to be unreasonable choices for workers. From the perspective of personal cultural values, workers who rate highly in uncertainty avoidance tend to commit more routine violations, situational violations, and optimizing violations than their counterparts. Workers who rate highly in shared emotions tend to commit more routine violations than their counterparts do. No significant correlations were found between violation frequency and perceived risk by Chinese railway workers.

‘You can’t weed out corruption’: Railway workers’ assessments of the state in post-socialist Serbia

In this article, I analyze how railway workers in a small town in Serbia assessed what they perceived as the proliferation of corrupt practices in their company and in the state. Corruption has been both a response to the changes of socioeconomic relations and constitutive of those changes. Narratives about corruption reveal the material bedrock of socioeconomic changes since the 1980s as well as the work that people have to invest in making sense of and adapting to those changes. The state figured explicitly and implicitly in these narratives as an object of criticism. Over the past three decades, the Serbian state has changed as much from above-due to transnational pressures and economic problems it was facing-as from below-through practices of individuals enmeshed in state structures. The collapse of state provision and increasing social inequality made corrupt practices crucial for ensuring redistributive state functions and creating new avenues for capital accumulation. In these circumstances, some corrupt practices (such as smuggling) are seen as necessary while others (such as the mismanagement of the company) are condemned as superfluous or outright criminal based on the difference between basic material provision and one’s enrichment to the detriment of others.

In-depth Analysis of Pattern of Occupational Injuries and Utilization of Safety Measures among Workers of Railway Wagon Repair Workshop in Jhansi (U.P.)

Context:Occupational injuries constitute a global health challenge, yet they receive comparatively modest scientific attention. Pattern of occupational injuries and its safety precautions among wagon repair workers is an important health issue, especially in developing countries like India.Aims:To assess the pattern of occupational injuries and utilization of safety measures among railway wagon repair workshop workers in Jhansi (U.P.).Settings and Design:Railway wagon repair workshop urban area, Jhansi (U.P). Occupation-based cross-sectional study.Patients and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 309 workers of railway workshop in Jhansi (U.P.) who were all injured during the study period of 1 year from July 2015 to June 2016. Baseline characteristics, pattern of occupational injuries, safety measures, and their availability to and utilization by the participants were assessed using a pretested structured questionnaire.Statistical Analysis Used:Data obtained were collected and analyzed statistically by simple proportions and Chi-square test.Results:The majority of studied workers aged between 38 and 47 years (n = 93, 30.6%) followed by 28–37 years (n = 79, 26%). Among the pattern of occupational injuries, laceration (28.7%) was most common followed by abrasion/scratch (21%). Safety shoes and hat were utilized 100% by all workers. Many of them had more than 5 years of experience (n = 237, 78%). Age group, education level, and utilization of safety measures were significantly associated with pattern of occupational injuries in univariate analysis (P < 0.05).Conclusions:Occupational injuries are high and utilization of safety measures is low among workers on railway wagon repair workshop, which highlights the importance of strengthening safety regulatory services toward this group of workers. Younger age group workers show a significant association with open wounds and surface wounds. As the education level of workers increases, the incidence of injuries decreases. Apart from shoes, hat, and gloves, regular utilization of other personal protective equipment was not seen.

&amp;quot;Man on the Tracks&amp;quot; by Andrzej Munk: Feature Film as a Symbol of the Polish Thaw

At key point of Polish history – in 1956 – Andrzej Munk created feature film &amp;quot;Man on the Tracks&amp;quot;, which, along with the &amp;quot;Channel&amp;quot; by Andrzej Wajda, became the starting point for the new movement in the cinema of People&amp;apos;s Poland – the Polish Film School. &amp;quot;Man on the Tracks&amp;quot;, based on the story &amp;quot;The Mystery of the Machinist Ozhekhovsky&amp;quot; by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, was a landmark film, which, using the example of a story from the life of railway depot workers, managed to denounce Stalinism in the Polish art. It sweeps aside the idea of irreconcilable class struggle, ideas of accusation of the retrogrades and search for &amp;quot;pests&amp;quot;, uncompromising division of characters into &amp;quot;progressives&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;revanchists.&amp;quot;