Majdán János

The establishment of the Hungarian rail network created a new type of occupation and railway employees were contracted by specially customised work agreements from the very start. Besides the details of the employee’s duties, these agreements also contained a list of worker benefits. The study is a detailed analysis of benefits provided by private rail companies, followed by those received by the state-employed workers of MÁV (Hungarian State Railways) after nationalisation. The study explores the system of non-pecuniary benefits and fundamental changes in work contracts, which took place in several stages across time. The description of this process traces the social integration, acceptance and growing prestige of rail workers, who were becoming an increasingly influential and important social group.