Railway brotherhoods were unions of railroad workers in the United States and Canada. Many persons used the term for the "big four" railroad labor unions. These were the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen. In 1969, the latter three unions merged with the Switchmen's Union of North America to form the United Transportation Union. This union has about 160,000 members.