shopcraft

[ shop-kraft, -krahft ]

noun

1. any of various skilled trades involving maintenance or repair work, as metalworking or boilermaking, especially in the railroad industry.
2. the members of any such trade.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shopcraft¹

First recorded in 1685–95; shop + craft

Example Sentences

The terms, which provided a 68�-an-hour wage increase for 48,000 shopcraft workers who now make $3.60 an hour, were the same as the ones that the railroads and negotiators for four rail unions had agreed upon last December.

From Time Magazine Archive

Meanwhile, the possibility of a crippling strike by six railroad shopcraft unions flickered anew, though on Capitol Hill, there were hopeful plans to draft legislation to handle the dispute.

From Time Magazine Archive

Though a strike that would snarl the nation's rail system is possible, the indications are that the signalmen will await the outcome of contract talks involving the larger shopcraft unions before pressing their demands.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ignoring a Labor Department plea for a seven-day delay, four shopcraft unions culminated more than a year of stop-and-go negotiations by striking the sprawling Union Pacific Railroad.

From Time Magazine Archive

To prevent 137,000 workers in six shopcraft unions from tying up 138 railroads by taking a walk, Johnson had to request special legislation from Congress extending the strike deadline by 20 days.

From Time Magazine Archive