Ghanaian railway unionism cannot, strictly speaking, be equated with the behaviour of the union's Sekondi-Takoradi membership alone. By 1970 (as can be seen from Table 1.1), workers based in Sekondi-Takoradi accounted for slightly less than half of the total labour force of the Railway and Harbour Administration, nearly all of whom were union members. More than one quarter were employed in the railway and harbour installations at Accra-Tema. This, however, represented a major shift in the pattern of dispersal of the labour force which occurred after 1961 with the completion of a new harbour at Tema, and the redirection of a large volume of freight – particularly imported goods – through Tema instead of Takoradi. For the major part of the period under discussion, the Sekondi-Takoradi workers might properly be portrayed as the concentrated nucleus of Railway Union membership. It is in any case the behaviour and attitudes of this group which, for obvious reasons of political impact, constitute the main concern of this study. The differing attitudes and behaviour of the members of other branches, though briefly discussed when they led to important political divisions within the Railway Union, are peripheral to the central focus. It seems appropriate, therefore, to provide a preliminary sketch of the historical growth and sociological characteristics of this section of the labour force and its surrounding urban environment.