The ASRS was an industrial union founded in 1871 with the support of the Liberal MP Michael Thomas Bass.

This led to the formation of the Labour Party to contest parliamentary elections under the chairmanship of Ramsay MacDonald.

[8] By this point, the ASRS had grown significantly, with 97,561 members in 1907, making it one of the country's largest trade unions.

[1] In August 1911 the ASRS, ASLEF, GRWU and UPSS jointly called the United Kingdom's first national rail strike.

[9] In only two days the joint action succeeded in forcing the Liberal Government to set up a Royal Commission to examine the workings of the Conciliation Board.