RWU has a steering committee - currently (2024) of 11 Members and 5 Alternates, all of whom are working railroaders from various crafts and rail unions.

Members are elected at their bi-annual convention, usually held in the spring of even numbered years, generally in Chicago, a major railroad center.

The organization's membership is open to any railroad worker, working in the United States of America, Mexico, or Canada and who are not supervisory personnel or managers.

The organization engages in a variety of Campaigns that are popular with rail workers, and has adopted numerous Resolutions on various questions of concern to railroaders.

The railroad carriers claimed that the conflict over the issue is a "minor dispute" under the Railway Labor Act, they sought to have it subject to arbitration.