The All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) is the largest trade union of Indian Railways workers with a membership of 1.4 million.
The union's president between 1947 and 1953 was the socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, while the future communist chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu was vice-president.
Communist-linked unions and members were expelled from the union.In 1953, AIRF merged with INRWF to form the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen.
In May 1974, AIRF President George Fernandes led a nationwide railway strike that was suppressed by the Government of India.
[8][9][10] In 2007, Indian Railways was ordered by courts to hold secret ballot elections for the first time to determine union representation in each of its seventeen zones.