The Railway Mail Association (RMA) was originally The National Association of Railway Postal Clerks when chartered under the laws of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 in 1898 as a fraternal beneficiary association. In 1904 the name was changed to the RMA and lasted until 1949 when the Post Office Department renamed the Railway Mail Service

Railway Mail Service

The United States Postal Service's Railway Mail Service was a significant mail transportation service in the US during the time period from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century. The RMS, or its successor the Postal Transportation Service , carried the vast majority of letters and...

 as Postal Transportation Service

Postal Transportation Service

On October 1, 1949, the Post Office Department renamed the Railway Mail Service as the Postal Transportation Service . Although this branch of the service had been in charge of all transit mail, some parts had little to do with railroads, although they were still the most important part of the...

. At that time, it became the National Postal Transport Association

National Postal Transport Association

The National Postal Transport Association was the successor to the Railway Mail Association. The name change was prompted by the United States Post Office Department reorganizing the Railway Mail Service as the Postal Transportation Service on October 1, 1949...

.

The Railway Mail Mutual Benefit Association, (MBA) traces its origins to 1874. It was established to provide compensation to clerks in case of injury or death while working, since commercial life insurance was not available to Railway Post Office

Railway post office

In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...

 clerks due to hazardous working conditions. It is now named the American Postal Workers Union

American Postal Workers Union

The American Postal Workers Union is a labor union in the United States. It represents employees of the United States Postal Service who are clerks, maintenance employees, and motor vehicle service workers...

 (APWU) Accident Benefit Association. Its current mailing address is PO Box 538, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

03802-0538.