I find it interesting, and more than a bit sad, that the employment practices seem to have gone backwards in terms of worker benefits, especially when compared with the advances of the 1850s and later. Thinking in terms of worker's housing - the GWR Railway village in Swindon,(although the sewage system was appalling and a disgrace, especially considering the work of Chadwick and Bazelgette), the GWR Sickness Fund - on which Bevan based the NHS - the advances in workers housing, education and welfare at Alfred Krupp ('You get born in Krupp hospital, go to Krupp nursery, educated in a Krupp school, work for Krupp, go to a Krupp paid for church to get married, live in a Krupp house, die in a Krupp hospital and get buried in Krupp graveyard) was the popular but somewhat unofficial claim - all provided that you didn't rock the boat and be too much of trade unionist. Under Francis Webb at Crewe, things were less paternalist but promotion was very difficult if you weren't a Conservative voting C of E frequent church attender. In Alsace, under the great locomotive engineer, Alfred de Glehn at the Societe Alsacienne, where relatively (for the time) decent housing was provided. Some vestiges lasted until the latter half of the 20th century, such as the GEC Pension fund - for all Lord Weinstock was criticised, he set up the GEC Pension fund, )The Stanhope Trust) with a rule that no more than 5% of assets could be in GEC or subsidiaries, and a board of Trustees, who were therefor able to prevent a Robert Maxwell thievery attempt (if anyone should have his grave used as a public lavatory, he should!). In the 1950s, the NCB built housing estates for miners coming from exhausted Northumberland collieries to North Nottinghamshire - you don't see the NHS building affordable rented housing for their workers, even in areas where they badly need nurses and doctors and housing isn't affordable. (Although I suppose that these days, the Treasury would block any attempt!)