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THE RAILWAY
LABOR ACT
TITLE 45 -
United States Code
Chapter 8 - Sections
151-188
1996 Edition
CUT OFF AS OF 06/30/96
CHAPTER 8-RAILWAY LABOR
SUBCHAPTER I-GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec.
151. Definitions; short title.
151a. General purposes.
152. General duties.
153. National Railroad Adjustment
Board.
154. National Mediation Board.
155. Functions of Mediation Board.
156. Procedure in changing rates of
pay, rules, and working conditions.
157. Arbitration.
158. Agreement to arbitrate; form
and contents; signatures and acknowledgment; revocation.
159. Award and judgment thereon;
effect of chapter on individual employee.
159a. Special procedure for commuter
service.
(a) Applicability of provisions.
(b) Request for establishment of
emergency board.
(c) Establishment of emergency board
(d) Public hearing by National
Mediation Board upon failure of emergency board to effectuate
settlement of dispute.
(e) Establishment of second
emergency board.
(f) Submission of final offers to
second emergency board by parties. board.
(g) Report of second emergency
board.
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Sec.
(h) Maintenance of status quo during
dispute period.
(i) Work stoppages by employees
subsequent to carrier offer selected; eligibility of employees
for benefits.
(j) Work stoppages by employees
subsequent to employees offer selected: eligibility of employer
for benefits.
160. Emergency board.
161. Effect of partial invalidity of
chapter.
162. Authorization of
appropriations.
163. Repeal of prior legislation;
exception.
164. Repealed.
SUBCHAPTER II-CARRIERS BY AIR
181. Application of subchapter I to
carriers by air.
182. Duties, penalties, benefits,
and privileges of subchapter I applicable.
183. Disputes within jurisdiction of
Mediation Board.
184.System, group, or regional
boards of adjustment.
185.National Air Transport
Adjustment Board.
186. Omitted.
187.
Separability.
188. Authorization of
appropriations.
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CHAPTER REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This chapter is referred to in sections 231,
351, 354, 355, 362, 401, 404, 431, 522, 565, 591, 726, 797k, 851, 853,
1108, 1207 of this title; title 11 section 1167; title 18 section 1951;
title 26 section 3231; title 29 sections 152, 182, 401, 402, 523, 630,
1002, 1415, 2108; title 42 section 2000e; title 49 section 10722; title
49 App. section 1382.
SUBCHAPTER I-GENERAL
PROVISIONS
SUBCHAPTER REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This subchapter is referred to in sections
181, 182 of this title; title 11 section 1113.
§ 151.
Definitions; short title
When used in this chapter and for the
purposes of this chapter-
First. The term "carrier" includes
any railroad subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation
Board, any express company that would have been subject to subtitle IV
of title 49, United States Code, as of December 31, 1995, and any
company which is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by or under
common control with any carrier by railroad and which operates any
equipment or facilities or performs any service (other than trucking
service) in connection with the transportation, receipt, delivery,
elevation, transfer in transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, and
handling of property transported by railroad, and any receiver, trustee,
Or other individual or body, judicial or otherwise, when in the
possession of the business of any such "carrier": Provided,
however, That the term "carrier" shall not include any
street, interurban, or suburban electric railway, unless such railway is
operating as a part of a general steam-railroad system of
transportation, but shall not exclude any part of the general
steamrailroad system of transportation now or hereafter operated by any
other motive power. The Surface Transportation Board is authorized and
directed upon request of the Mediation Board or upon complaint of any
party interested to determine after hearing whether any line operated by
electric power falls within the terms of this proviso. The term
"carrier" shall not include any company by reason of its being
engaged in the mining of coal, the supplying of coal to a carrier where
delivery is not beyond the mine tipple, and the operation of equipment
or facilities therefor, or in any of such activities.
Second. The term "Adjustment
Board" means the National Railroad Adjustment Board created by this
chapter.
Third. The term "Mediation Board"
means the National Mediation Board created by this chapter.
Fourth. The term "commerce" means
commerce among the several States or between any State, Territory, or
the District of Columbia and any foreign nation, or between any
Territory or the District of Columbia and any State, or between any
Territory and any other Territory, or between any Territory and the
District of Columbia, or within any Territory or the District of
Columbia, or between points in the same State but through any other
State or any Territory or the District of Columbia or any foreign
nation.
Fifth. The term "employee" as used
herein includes every person in the service of a carrier (subject to its
continuing authority to supervise and direct the manner of rendition of
his service) who performs any work defined as that of an employee or
subordinate official in the orders of the Surface Transportation Board
now in effect, and as the same may be amended or interpreted by orders
hereafter entered by the Board pursuant to the authority which is
conferred upon it to enter orders amending or interpreting such existing
orders: Provided, however, That no occupational classification made by
order of the Surface Transportation Board shall be construed to define
the crafts according to which railway employees may be organized by
their voluntary action, nor shall the jurisdiction or powers of such
employee organizations be regarded as in any way limited or defined by
the provisions of this chapter or by the orders of the Board.
The term "employee" shall not
include any individual while such individual is engaged in the physical
operations consisting of the mining of coal, the preparation of coal,
the handling (other than movement by rail with standard railroad
locomotives) of coal not beyond the mine tipple, or the loading of coal
at the tipple.
Sixth. The term "representative"
means any person or persons, labor union, organization, or corporation
designated either by a carrier or group of carriers or by its or their
employees, to act for it or them.
Seventh. The term "district court"
includes the United States District Court for the District of Columbia;
and the term "court of appeals" includes the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
This chapter may be cited as the
"Railway Labor Act."
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, § 1, 44 Stat. 577;
June 7, 1934, ch. 426, 48 Stat. 926; June 21, 1934, ch. 691, § 1, 48
Stat. 1185; June 25, 1936, ch. 804, 49 Stat. 1921; Aug. 13, 1940, ch.
664, §§2, 3, 54 Stat. 785, 786; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, §32(a), (b),
62 Stat. 991; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 127, 63 Stat. 107.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This chapter, referred to in text, was in
the original "this Act", meaning act May 20, 1926, ch. 347, 44
Stat. 577 ' as amended, known as the Railway Labor Act, which enacted
this chapter and amended sections 225 and 348 of former Title 28,
Judicial Code and Judiciary. Sections 225 and 348 of former Title 28
were repealed by section 39 of act June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 992,
section 1 of which enacted Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Section 225 of former Title 28 was reenacted as sections 1291 to 1294 of
Title 28. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see this
section and Tables.
CODIFICATION
In par. First, "subtitle IV of title
49" substituted for "the Interstate Commerce Act [49 U.S.C. 1
et seq.]" on authority of Pub. L. 95-473, §3(b), Oct. 17, 1978, 92
Stat. 1466, the first section of which enacted subtitle IV of Title 49,
Transportation.
Provisions of act Aug. 13, 1940, §2,
similar to those comprising par. First of this section, limiting the
term "employer" as applied to mining, etc., of coal, were
formerly contained in section 228a of this title. Provisions of section
3 of the act, similar to those comprising par. Fifth of this section,
limiting the term "employee" as applied to mining, etc., of
coal, were formerly contained in sections 228a, 261, and 351 of this
title, and section 1532 of former Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, 1939.
As originally enacted, par. Seventh
contained references to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.
Act June 25, 1936 substituted "the district court of the United
States for the District of Columbia" for "the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia", and act June 25, 1948, as amended by act
May 24, 1949, substituted "United States District Court for the
District of Columbia" for "district court of the United States
for the District of Columbia".
As originally enacted, par. Seventh
contained references to the "circuit court of appeals". Act
June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949, substituted "court
of appeals" for "circuit court of appeals".
As originally enacted, par. Seventh
contained references to the "Court of Appeals of the District of
Columbia". Act June 7, 1934, substituted "United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia" for "Court of Appeals
of the District of Columbia".
AMENDMENTS
1940-Act Aug. 13, 1940, inserted last
sentence of par. First, and second par. of par. Fifth.
1934-Act June 21, 1934, added par. Sixth and
redesignated provisions formerly set out as par. Sixth as Seventh.
RESTRICTION ON ESTABLISHMENT
OF NEW ANNUITIES OR PENSIONS
Pub. L. 91-215, §7, Mar. 17, 1970, 84 Stat.
72, provided that: "No carrier and no representative of employees,
as defined in section 1 of the Railway Labor Act [this section], shall,
before April 1, 1974, utilize any of the procedures of such Act [this
chapter], to seek to make any changes in the provisions of the Railroad
Retirement Act of 1937 [section 228a et seq. of this title] for
supplemental annuities or to establish any new class of pensions or
annuities, other than annuities payable out of the Railroad Retirement
Account provided under section 15(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of
1937 [subsection (a) of section 228o of this title], to become effective
prior to July 1, 1974; nor shall any such carrier or representative of
employees until July 1, 1974, engage in any strike or lockout to seek to
make any such changes or to establish any such new class of pensions or
annuities: Provided, That nothing in this section shall inhibit any
carrier or representative of employees from seeking any change with
respect to benefits payable out of the Railroad Retirement Account
provided under section 15(a) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937
[subsection (a) of section 228o of this title]."
SOCIAL INSURANCE AND LABOR RELATIONS OF
RAILROAD COAL-MINING EMPLOYEES; RETROACTIVE OPERATION OF ACT AUGUST 13,
1940; EFFECT ON PAYMENTS, RIGHTS, ETC.
Sections 4-7 of act Aug. 13, 1940, as
amended by Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1946, §4, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R.
7873, 60 Stat. 1095, with regard to the operation and effect of the laws
amended, provided:
"SEC. 4. (a) The laws hereby expressly
amended (section 1532 of Title 26, I.R.C. 1939 [former Title 26,
Internal Revenue Code of 1939] and sections 151, 215, 228a, 261, and 351
of this title), the Social Security Act, approved August 14, 1935
(section 301 et seq. of Title 42), and all amendments thereto, shall
operate as if each amendment herein contained had been enacted as a part
of the law it amends, at the time of the original enactment of such law.
"(b) No person (as defined in the
Carriers Taxing Act of 1937 [section 261 et seq. of this title]) shall
be entitled, by reason of the provisions of this Act, to a refund of, or
relief from liability for, any income or excise taxes paid or accrued,
pursuant to the provisions of the Carriers Taxing Act of 1937 or
subchapter B of chapter 9 of the Internal Revenue Code [section 1500 et
seq. of former Title 26, Internal Revenue Code of 1939], prior to the
date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 13, 1940) by reason of
employment in the service of any carrier by railroad subject to part I
of the Interstate Commerce
Act [49 U.S.C. 10501 et seq.], but any
individual who has been employed in such service of any carrier by
railroad subject to part I of the Interstate Commerce Act as is excluded
by the amendments made by this Act from coverage under the Carriers
Taxing Act of 1937 and subchapter B of chapter 9 of the Internal Revenue
Code, and who has paid income taxes under the provisions of such Act or
subohapter, and any carrier by railroad subject to part I of the
Interstate Commerce Act which has paid excise taxes under the provisions
of the Carriers Taxing Act of 1937 or subchapter B of chapter 9 of the
Internal Revenue Code, may, upon making proper application therefor to
the Bureau of Internal Revenue [now Internal Revenue Service], have the
amount of taxes so paid applied in reduction of such tax liability with
respect to employment, as may, by reason of the amendments made by this
Act, accrue against them under the provisions of title VIII of the
Social Security Act [section 1001 et seq. of Title 42) or the Federal
Insurance Contributions Act (subchapter A of chapter 9 of the Internal
Revenue Code) [section 1400 et seq. of former Title 261.
"(c) Nothing contained in this Act
shall operate (1) to affect any annuity, pension, or death benefit
granted under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 [section 215 et seq.
of this title] or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 [section 228a et
seq. of this title], prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Aug.
13, 1940], or (2) to include any of the services on the basis of which
any such annuity or pension was granted, as employment within the
meaning of section 210(b) of the Social Security Act -or section 209(b)
of such Act, as amended (sections 410(b) and 409(b), respectively, of
Title 42]. In any case in which a death benefit alone has been granted,
the amount of such death benefit attributable to services, coverage of
which is affected by this Act, shall be deemed to have been paid to the
deceased under section 204 of the Social Security Act (section 404 of
Title 42] in effect prior to January 1, 1940, and
deductions shall be made from any insurance benefit or benefits payable
under the Social Security Act, as amended [section 301 et seq. of Title
42], with respect to wages paid to an individual for such services until
such deductions total the amount of such death benefit attributable to
such services.
"(d) Nothing contained in this Act
shall operate to affect the benefit rights of any individual under the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act [section 351 et -eq. of this title]
for any day of unemployment (as deiined in section l(k) of such Act
[section 351(k) of this title]) occurring prior to the date of enactment
of this Act. [Aug. 13,1940]
"SEC. 5. Any application for payment
filed with the Railroad Retirement Board prior to, or within sixty days
after, the enactment of this Act shall, under such regulations as the
Federal Security Administrator may prescribe, be deemed to be an
application filed with the Federal Security Administrator by such
individual or by any person claiming any payment with respect to the
wages of such individual, under any provision of section 202 of the
Social Security Act, as amended (section 402 of Title 42).
"SEC. 6. Nothing contained in this Act,
nor the action of Congress in adopting it, shall be taken or considered
as affecting the question of what carriers, companies, or individuals,
other than those in this Act specifically provided for, are included in
or excluded from the provisions of the various laws to which this Act is
an amendment.
"SEC. 7. (a) Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 1605(b) of the Internal Revenue Code [section
1605(b) of former Title 26, Internal Revenue Code of 1939], no interest
shall, during the period February 1, 1940, to the eighty-ninth day after
the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 13, 1940], inclusive, accrue by
reason of delinquency in the payment of the tax imposed by section 1600
with respect to services affected by this Act performed during the
period July 1, 1939, to December 31, 1939, inclusive, with respect to
which services amounts have been paid as contributions under the
Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act [section 351 et seq. of this title]
prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
"(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of
section 1601(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code [section 1601(a)(3) of
former Title 26, Internal Revenue Code of 1939], the credit allowable
under section 1601(a) against the tax imposed by section 1600 for the
calendar year 1939 shall not be disallowed or reduced by reason of the
payment into a State unemployment fund after January 31, 1940, of
contributions with respect to services affected by this Act performed
during the period July 1, 1939, to December 31, 1939, inclusive, with
respect to which services amounts have been paid as contributions under
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act [section 351 et seq. of this
title] prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 13, 1940):
Provided, That this subsection shall be applicable only if the
contributions with respect to such services are paid into the State
unemployment fund before the ninetieth day after the date of enactment
of this Act."
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 157,
182 of this title.
§ 151a. General purposes
The purposes of the chapter are: (1) To
avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier
engaged therein; (2) to forbid any limitation upon freedom of
association among employees or any denial, as a condition of employment
or otherwise, of the right of employees to join a labor organization;
(3) to provide for the complete independence of carriers and of
employees in the matter of self-organization to carry out the purposes
of this chapter-, (4) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement
of all disputes concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions;
(5) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes
growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of
agreements covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, §2, 44 Stat. 577;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, §2, 48 Stat. 1186.)
AMENDMENTS
1934-Act June 21, 1934, reenacted provisions
comprising this section without change.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 153,
157 of this title.
§ 152.
General duties
First. Duty of carriers and employees to
settle disputes
It shall be the duty of all carriers, their
officers, agents, and employees to exert every reasonable effort to make
and maintain agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, and working
conditions, and to settle all disputes, whether arising out of the
application of such agreements or otherwise, in order to avoid any
interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier growing out
of any dispute between the carrier and the employees thereof.
Second. Consideration of disputes by
representatives
All disputes between a carrier or carriers
and its or their employees shall be considered, and, if possible,
decided, with all expedition, in conference between representatives
designated and authorized so to confer, respectively, by the carrier or
carriers and by the employees thereof interested in the dispute.
Third. Designation of representatives
Representatives, for the purposes of this
chapter, shall be designated by the respective parties without
interference, influence, or coercion by either party over the
designation of representatives by . the other; and neither party shall
in any way interfere with, influence, or coerce the other in its choice
of representatives. Representatives of employees for the purposes of
this chapter need not be persons in the employ of the carrier, and no
carrier shall, by interference, influence, or coercion seek in any
manner to prevent the designation by its employees as their
representatives of those who or which are not employees of the carrier.
Fourth. Organization and collective
bargaining, freedom
from interference by carrier, assistance in organizing or maintaining
organization by carrier forbidden; deduction of dues from
wages forbidden
Employees shall have the right to organize
and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.
The majority of any craft or class of employees shall have the right to
determine who shall be the representative of the craft or class for the
purposes of this chapter. No carrier, its officers, or agents shall deny
or in any way question the right of its employees to join, organize, or
assist in organizing the labor organization of their choice, and it
shall be unlawful for any carrier to interfere in any way with the
organization of its employees, or to use the funds of the carrier in
maintaining or assisting or contributing to any labor organization,
labor representative, or other agency of collective bargaining, or in
performing any work therefor, or to influence or coerce employees in an
effort to induce them to join or remain or not to join or remain members
of any labor organization, or to deduct from the wages of employees any
dues, fees, assessments, or other contributions payable to labor
organizations, or to collect or to assist in the collection of any such
dues, fees, assessments, or other contributions: Provided, That nothing
in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a carrier from permitting
an employee, individually, or local representatives of employees from
conferring with management during working hours without loss of time, or
to prohibit a carrier from furnishing free transportation to its
employees while engaged in the business of a labor organization.
Fifth. Agreements to join or not to join
labor organizations forbidden
No carrier, its officers, or agents shall
require any person seeking employment to sign any contract or agreement
promising to join or not to join a labor organization; and if any such
contract has been enforced prior to the effective date of this chapter,
then such carrier shall notify the employees by an appropriate order
that such contract has been discarded and is no longer binding on them
in any way.
Sixth. Conference of representatives; time;
place; private
agreements
In case of a dispute between a carrier or
carriers and its or their employees, arising out of grievances or out of
the interpretation or application of agreements concerning rates of pay,
rules, or working conditions, it shall be the duty of the designated
representative or representatives of such carrier or carriers and of
such employees, within ten days after the receipt of notice of a desire
on the part of either party to confer in respect to such dispute, to
specify a time and place at which such conference shall be held:
Provided, (1) That the place so specified shall be situated upon the
line of the carrier involved or as otherwise mutually agreed upon; and
(2) that the time so specified shall allow the designated conferees
reasonable opportunity to reach such place of conference, but shall not
exceed twenty days from the receipt of such notice: And provided
further, That nothing in this chapter shall be construed to supersede
the provisions of any agreement (as to conferences) then in effect
between the parties.
Seventh. Change in pay, rules, or working
conditions contrary to agreement or to section 156 forbidden
No carrier, its officers, or agents shall
change the rates of pay, rules, or working conditions of its employees,
as a class, as embodied in agreements except in the manner prescribed in
such agreements or in section 156 of this title.
Eighth. Notices of manner of settlement of
disputes; posting
Every carrier shall notify its employees by
printed notices in such form and posted at such times and places as
shall be specified by the Mediation Board that all disputes between the
carrier and its employees will be handled in accordance with the
requirements of this chapter, and in such notices there shall be printed
verbatim, in large type, the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs of this
section. The provisions of said paragraphs are made a part of the
contract of employment between the carrier and each employee, and shall
be held binding upon the parties, regardless of any other express or
implied agreements between them.
Ninth. Disputes as to identity of
representatives; designation
by Mediation Board;. secret elections
If any dispute shall arise among a carrier's
employees as to who are the representatives of such employees designated
and authorized in accordance with the requirements of this chapter, it
shall be the duty of the Mediation Board, upon request of either party
to the dispute, to investigate such dispute and to certify to both
parties, in writing, within thirty days after the receipt of the
invocation of its services, the name or names of the individuals or
organizations that have been designated and authorized to represent the
employees involved in the dispute, and certify the same to the carrier.
Upon receipt of such certification the carrier shall treat with the
representative so certified as the representative of the craft or class
for the purposes of this chapter. In such an investigation, the
Mediation Board shall be authorized to take a secret ballot of the
employees involved, or to utilize any other appropriate method of
ascertaining the names of their duly designated and authorized
representatives in such manner as shall insure the choice of
representatives by the employees without interference, influence, or
coercion exercised by the carrier. In the conuuct of any election for
the purposes herein indicated the Board shall designate who may
participate in the election and establish the rules to govern the
election, or may appoint a com@nittee of three neutral persons who after
hearing shall within ten days designate the employees who may
participate in the election. The Board shall have access to and have
power to make copies of the books and records of the carriers to obtain
and utilize such information as may be deemed necessary by it to carry
out the purposes and provisions of this paragraph.
Tenth. Violations; prosecution and penalties
The willful failure or refusal of any
carrier, its officers or agents, to comply with the terms of the third,
fourth, fifth, seventh, or eighth paragraph of this section shall be a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof the carrier, officer, or agent
offending shall be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000, nor more
than $20,000, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or uoth fine
and imprisonment, for each offense, and each day during which such
carrier, officer, or agent shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with
the terms of the said paragraphs of this section shall constitute a
separate offense. It shall be the duty of any United States attorney to
whom any duly designated representative of a carrier's employees may
apply to institute in the proper court and to prosecute under the
direction of the Attorney General of the United States, all necessary
proceedings for the enforcement of the provisions of this section, and
for the punishment of all violations thereof and the costs and expenses
of such prosecution shall be paid out of the appropriation for the
expenses of the courts of the United States: Provided, That nothing in
this chapter shall be construed to require an individual employee to
render labor or service without his consent, nor shall anything in this
chapter be construed to make the quitting of his labor by an individual
employee an illegal act; nor shall any court issue any process to compel
the performance by an individual employee of such labor or service,
without his consent.
Eleventh. Union security agreements;
check-off
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
chapter, or of any other statute or law of the United States, or
Territory thereof, or of any State, any carrier or carriers as defined
in this chapter and a labor organization or labor organizations duly
designated and authorized to represent employees in accordance with the
requirements of this chapter shall be permitted(a) to make agreements,
requiring, as a condition of continued employment, that within sixty
days following the beginning of such employment, or the effective date
of such agreements, whichever is the later, all employees shall become
members of the labor organization representing their craft or class:
Provided, That no such agreement shall require such condition of
employment with respect to employees to whom membership is not available
upon the same terms and conditions as are generally applicable to any
other member or with respect to employees to whom membership was denied
or terminated for any reason other than the failure of the employee to
tender the periodic dues, initiation fees, and as sessments (not
including fines and penalties) uniformly required as a condition of
acquiring or retaining membership.
(b) to make agreements providing for the
aeduction by such carrier or carriers from the wages of its or their
employees in a craft or class and payment to the labor organization
representing the craft or class of such employees, of any periodic dues,
initiation fees, and assessments (not including fines and penalties)
uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership:
Provided, That no such agreement shall be effective with respect to any
individual employee until he shall have furnished the employer with a
written assignment to the labor organization of such membership dues,
initiation fees, and assessments, which shall be revocable in writing
after the expiration of one year or upon the termination date of the
applicable collective agreement, whichever occurs sooner.
(c) The requirement of membership in a labor
organization in an agreement made pursuant to subparagraph (a) of this
paragraph shall be satisfied, as to both a present or future employee in
engine, train, yard, or hostling service, that is, an employee engaged
in any of the services or capacities covered in the First division of
paragraph (h) of section 153 of this title defining the jurisdictional
scope of the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board,
if said emplovee shall hold or acquire membership in any one of the
labor organizations, national in scope, organized in accordance with
this chapter and admitting to membership employees of a craft or class
in any of said services; and no agreement made pursuant to subparagraph
(b) of this paragraph shall provide for deductions from his wages for
periodic dues, initiation fees, or assessments payable to any labor
organization other than that in which he holds membership: Provided,
however, That as to an employee in any of said services on a
particular carrier at the effective date of any such agreement on a
carrier, who is not a member of any one of the labor organizations,
national in scope, organized in accordance with this chapter and
admitting to membership employees of a craft or class in any of said
services, such employee, as a condition of continuing his employment,
may be required to become a member of the organization representing the
craft in which he is employed on the effective date of the first
agreement applicable to him: Provided, further, That nothing herein or
in any such agreement or agreements shall prevent an employee from
changing membership from one organization to another organization
admitting to membership employees of a craft or class in any of said
services.
(d) Any provisions in paragraphs Fourth and
Fifth of this section in conflict herewith are to the extent of such
conflict amended.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, § 2, 44 Stat. 577;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, § 2, 48 Stat. 1186; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, §
1, 62 Stat. 909; Jan. 10, 1951, ch. 1220, 64 Stat. 1238.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The effective date of this chapter, referred
to in par. Fifth, probably means May 20, 1926, the date of approval of
act May 20, 1926, ch. 347, 44 Stat. 577.
AMENDMENTS
1951-Act Jan. 10, 1951, added par. Eleventh.
1934-Act June 21, 1934, substituted "by
the carrier or carriers" for "by the carriers" in par.
Second, generally amended pars. Third, Fourth, and Fifth, and added
pars. Sixth to Tenth.
CHANGE OF NAME
Act June 25, 1948, eff. Sept. 1, 1948,
substituted "United States attorney" for "district
attorney of the United States". See section 541 of Title 28,
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, and Historical and Revision Notes
thereunder.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 153,
157 of this title; title 29 section 2101.
§ 153.
National Railroad Adjustment Board
First. Establishment; composition; powers
and duties; divisions;
hearings and awards; judicial
review
There is established a Board, to be known as
the "National Railroad Adjustment Board", the members of which
shall be selected within thirty days after June 21, 1934, and it is
provided(a) That the said Adjustment Board shall consist of thirty-four
members, seventeen of whom shall be selected by the carriers and
seventeen by such labor organizations of the employees, national in
scope, as have been or may be organized in accordance with the
provisions of sections 151a and 152 of this title.
(b) The carriers, acting each through its
board of directors or its receiver or receivers, trustee or trustees, or
through an officer or officers designated for that purpose by such
board, trustee or trustees, or receiver or receivers, shall prescribe
the rules under which its representatives shall be selected and shall
select the representatives of the carriers on the Adjustment Board and
designate the division on which each such representative shall serve,
but no carrier or system of carriers shall have more than one voting
representative on any division of the Board.
(c) Except as provided in the second
paragraph of subsection (h) of this section, the national labor
organizations, as defined in paragraph (a) of this section, acting each
through the chief executive or other medium designated by the
organization or association thereof, shall prescribe the rules under
which the labor members of the Adjustment Board shall be selected and
shall select such members and designate the division on which each
member shall serve; but no labor organization shall have more than one
voting representative on any division of the Board.
(d) In case of a permanent or temporary
vacancy on the Adjustment Board, the vacancy shall be filled by
selection in the same manner as in the original selection.
(e) If either the carriers or the labor
organizations of the employees fail to select and designate
representatives to the Adjustment Board, as provided in paragraphs (b)
and (c) of this section, respectively, within sixty days after June 21,
1934, in case of any original appointment to office of a member of the
Adjustment Board, or in case of a vacancy in any such office within
thirty days after such vacancy occurs, the Mediation Board shall
thereupon directly make the appointment and shall select an individual
associated in interest with the carriers or the group of labor
organizations of employees, whichever he is to represent.
(f) In the event a dispute arises as to the
right of any national labor organization to participate as per paragraph
(c) of this section in the selection and designation of the labor
members of the Adjustment Board, the Secretary of Labor shall
investigate the claim of such labor organization to participate, and if
such claim in the judgment of the Secretary of Labor has merit, the
Secretary shall notify the Mediation Board accordingly, and within ten
days after receipt of such advice the Mediation Board shall request
those national labor organizations duly qualified as per paragraph (c)
of this section to participate in the selection and designation of the
labor members of the Adjustment Board to select a representative. Such
representative, together with a representative likewise designated by
the claimant, and a third or neutral party designated by the Mediation
Board, constituting a board of three, shall within thirty days after the
appointment of the neutral member, investigate the claims of the labor
organization desiring participation and decide whether or not it was
organized in accordance with sections 151a and 152 of this title and is
otherwise properly qualified to participate in the selection of the
labor members of the Adjustment Board, and the findings of such boards
of three shall be final and binding.
(g) Each member of the Adjustment Board
shall be compensated by the party or parties he is to represent. Each
third or neutral party selected under the provisions of paragraph (f) of
this section shall receive from the Mediation Board such compensation as
the Mediation Board may fix, together with his necessary traveling
expenses and expenses actually incurred for subsistence, or per them
allowance in lieu thereof, subject to the provisions of law applicable
thereto, while serving as such third or neutral party.
(h) The said Adjustment Board shall be
composed of four divisions, whose proceedings shall be independent of
one another, and the said divisions as well as the number of their
members shall be as follows:
First division: To have jurisdiction over
disputes involving train- and yard-service employees of carriers; that
is, engineers, firemen, hostlers, and outside hostler helpers,
conductors, trainmen, and yard-service employees. This division shall
consist of eight members, four of whom shall be selected and designated
by the carriers and four of whom shall be selected and designated by the
labor organizations, national in scope and organized in accordance with
sections 151a and 152 of this title and which represent employees in
engine, train, yard, or hostling service: Provided, however, That
each labor organization shall select and designate two members on the
First Division and that no labor organization shall have more than one
vote in any proceedings of the First Division or in the adoption of any
award with respect to any dispute submitted to the First Division: Provided
further, however, That the carrier members of the First Division
shall cast no more than two votes in any proceedings of the division or
in the adoption of any award with respect to any dispute submitted to
the First Division.
Second division: To have jurisdiction over
disputes involving machinists, boilermakers, blacksmiths, sheet-metal
workers, electrical workers, carmen, the helpers and apprentices of all
the foregoing, coach cleaners, power-house employees, and railroad-shop
laborers. This division shall consist of ten members, five of whom shall
be selected by the carriers and five by the national labor organizations
of the employees.
Third division: To have jurisdiction over
disputes involving station, tower, and telegraph employees, train
dispatchers, maintenance-of-way men, clerical employees, freight
handlers, express, station, and store employees, signal men,
sleeping-car conductors, sleeping-car porters, and maids and dining-car
employees. This Division shall consist of ten members, five of whom
shall be selected by the carriers and five by the national labor
organizations of employees.
Fourth division: To have jurisdiction over
disputes involving employees of carriers directly or indirectly engaged
in transportation of passengers or property by water, and all other
employees of carriers over which jurisdiction is not given to the first,
second, and third divisions. This division shall consist of six members,
three of whom shall be selected by the carriers and three by the
national labor organizations of the employees.
(i) The disputes between an employee or
group of employees and a carrier or carriers growing out of grievances
or out of the interpretation or application of agreements concerning
rates of Day, rules, or working conditions, including -cases pending and
unadjusted on June 21, 1934, shall be handled in the usual manner up to
and including the chief operating officer of the carrier designated to
handle such disputes; but, failing to reach an adjustment in this
manner, the disputes may be referred by petition of the parties or by
either party to the appropriate division of the Adjustment Board with a
full statement of the facts and all supporting data bearing upon the
disputes.
(j) Parties may be heard either in person,
by counsel, or by other representatives, as they may respectively elect,
and the several divisions of the Adjustment Board shall give due notice
of all hearings to the employee or employees and the carrier or carriers
involved in any disputes submitted to them.
(k) Any division of the Adjustment Board
shall have authority to empower two or more of its members to conduct
hearings and make findings upon disputes, when properly submitted, at
any place designated by the division: Provided, however, That
except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section, final awards as to
any such dispute must be made by the entire division as hereinafter
provided.
(l) Upon failure of any division to agree
upon an award because of a deadlock or inability to secure a majority
vote of the division members, as provided in paragraph (n) of this
section, then such division shall forthwith agree upon and select a
neutral person, to be known as "referee", to sit with the
division as a member thereof, and make an award. Should the division
fail to agree upon and select a referee within ten days of the date of
the deadlock or inability to secure a majority vote, then the division,
or any member thereof, or the parties or either party to the dispute may
certify that fact to the Mediation Board, which Board shall, within ten
days from the date of receiving such certificate, select and name the
referee to sit with the division as a member thereof and make an award.
The Mediation Board shall be bound by the same provisions in the
appointment of these neutral referees as are provided elsewhere in this
chapter for the appointment of arbitrators and shall fix and pay the
compensation of such referees.
(m) The awards of the several divisions of
the Adjustment Board shall be stated in writing. A copy of the awards
shall be furnished to the respective parties to the controversy, and the
awards shall be final and binding upon both parties to the dispute. In
case a dispute arises involving an interpretation of the award, the
division of the board upon request of either party shall interpret the
award in the light of the dispute.
(n) A majority vote of all members of the
division of the Adjustment Board eligible to vote shall be competent to
make an award with respect to any dispute submitted to it.
(o) In case of an award by any division of
the Adjustment Board in favor of petitioner, the division of the Board
shall make an order, directed to the carrier, to make the award
effective and, if the award includes a requirement for the payment of
money, to pay to the employee the sum to which he is entitled under the
award on or before a day named. In the event any division determines
that an award favorable to the petitioner should not be made in any
dispute referred to it, the division shall make an order to the
petitioner stating such determination.
(p) If a carrier does not comply with an
order of a division of the Adjustment Board within the time limit in
such order, the petitioner, or any person for whose benefit such order
was made, may file in the District Court of the United States for the
district in which he resides or in which is located the principal
operating office of the carrier, or through which the carrier operates,
a petition setting forth briefly the causes for which he claims relief,
and the order of the division of the Adjustment Board in the premises.
Such suit in the District Court of the United States shall proceed in
all respects as other civil suits, except that on the trial of such suit
the findings and order of the division of the Adjustment Board shall be
conclusive on the parties, and except that the petitioner shall not be
liable for costs in the district court nor for costs at any subsequent
stage of the proceedings, unless they accrue upon his appeal, and such
costs shall be paid out of the appropriation for the expenses of the
courts of the United States. If the petitioner shall finally prevail he
shall be allowed a reasonable attorney's fee, to be taxed and collected
as a part of the costs of the suit. The district courts are empowered,
under the rules of the court governing actions at law, to make such
order and enter such judgment, by writ of mandamus or otherwise, as may
be appropriate to enforce or set aside the order of the division of the
Adjustment Board: Provided, however, That such order may not be
set aside except for failure of the division to comply with the
requirements of this chapter, for failure of the order to conform, or
confine itself, to matters within the scope of the division's
jurisdiction, or for fraud or corruption by a member of the division
making the order.
(q) If any employee or group of employees,
or any carrier, is aggrieved by the failure of any division of the
Adjustment Board to make an award in a dispute referred to it, or is
aggrieved by any of the terms of an award or by the failure of the
division to include certain terms in such award, then such employee or
group of employees or carrier may file in any United States district
court in which a petition under paragraph (p) could be filed, a petition
for review of the division's order. A copy of the petition shall be
forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Adjustment Board.
The Adjustment Board shall file in the court the record of the
proceedings on which it based its action. The court shall have
jurisdiction to affirm the order of the division, or to set it aside, in
whole or in part, or it may remand the proceedings to the division for
such further action as it may direct. On such review, the findings and
order of the division shall be conclusive on the parties, except that
the order of the division may be set aside, in whole or in part, or
remanded to the division, for failure of the division to comply with the
requirements of this chapter, for failure of the order to conform, or
confine itself, to matters within the scope of the division's
jurisdiction, or for fraud or corruption by a member of the division
making the order. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review
as provided in sections 1291 and 1254 of title 28.
(r) All actions at law based upon the
provisions of this section shall be begun within two
years from the time the cause of action
accrues under the award of the division of the Adjustment Board, and not
after.
(s) The several divisions of the Adjustment
Board shall maintain headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, meet regularly,
and continue in session so long as there is pending before the division
any matter within its jurisdiction which has been submitted for its
Consideration and which has not been disposed of.
(t) Whenever practicable, the several
divisions or subdivisions of the Adjustment Board shall be supplied with
suitable quarters in any Federal building located at its place of
meeting.
(u) The Adjustment Board may, subject to the
approval of the Mediation Board, employ and fix the compensations of
such assistants as it deems necessary in carrying on its proceedings.
The compensation of such employees shall be paid by the Mediation Board.
(v) The Adjustment Board shall meet within
forty days after June 21, 1934, and adopt such rules as it deems
necessary to control proceedings before the respective divisions and not
in conflict with the provisions of this section. Immediately following
the meeting of the entire Board and the adoption of such rules, the
respective divisions shall meet and organize by the selection of a
chairman, a vice chairman, and a secretary. Thereafter each division
shall annually designate one of its members to act as chairman and one
of its members to act as vice chairman: Provided, however, That
the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship of any division shall alternate
as between the groups, so that both the chairmanship and
vice-chairmanship shall be held alternately by a representative of the
carriers and a representative of the employees. In case of a vacancy,
such vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term by the selection of
a successor from the same group.
(w) Each division of the Adjustment Board
shall annually prepare and submit a report of its activities to the
Mediation Board, and the substance of such report shall be included in
the annual report of the Mediation Board to the Congress of the United
States. The reports of each division of the Adjustment Board and the
annual report of the Mediation Board shall state in detail all cases
heard, all actions taken, the names, salaries, and duties of all
agencies, employees, and officers receiving compensation from the United
States under the authority of this chapter, and an account of all moneys
appropriated by Congress pursuant to the authority conferred by this
chapter and disbursed by such agencies, employees, and officers.
(x) Any division of the Adjustment Board
shall have authority, in its discretion, to establish regional
adjustment boards to act in its place and stead for such limited period
as such division may determine to be necessary. Carrier members of such
regional boards shall be designated in keeping with rules devised for
this purpose by the carrier members of the Adjustment Board and the
labor members shall be designated in keeping with rules devised for this
purpose by the labor members of the Adjustment Board. Any such regional
board shall, during the time for which it is appointed, have the same
authority to conduct hearings, make findings upon disputes and adopt the
same procedure as the division of the Adjustment Board appointing it,
and its decisions shall be enforceable to the same extent and under the
same processes. A neutral person, as referee, shall be appointed for
service in connection with any such regional adjustment board in the
same circumstances and manner as provided in paragraph (1) of this
section, with respect to a division of the Adjustment Board.
Second. System, group, or regional boards:
establishment by voluntary agreement; special adjustment boards:
establishment, composition, designation
of representatives by Mediation Board, neutral member,
compensation, quorum,
finality and enforcement of awards
Nothing in this section shall be construed
to prevent any individual carrier, system, or group of carriers and any
class or classes of its or their employees, all acting through their
representatives, selected in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter, from mutually agreeing to the establishment of system, group,
or regional boards of adjustment for the purpose of adjusting and
deciding disputes of the character specified in this section. In the
event that either party to such a system, group, or regional board of
adjustment is dissatisfied with such arrangement, it may upon ninety
days' notice to the other party elect to come under the jurisdiction of
the Adjustment Board.
If written request is made upon any
individual carrier by the representative of any craft or class of
employees of such carrier for the establishment of a special board of
adjustment to resolve disputes otherwise referable to the Adjustment
Board, or any dispute which has been pending before the Adjustment Board
for twelve months from the date the dispute (claim) is received by the
Board, or if any carrier makes such a request upon any such
representative, the carrier or the representative upon whom such request
is made shall join in an agreement establishing such a board within
thirty days from the date such request is made. The cases which may be
considered by such board shall be defined in the agreement establishing
it. Such board shall consist of one person designated by the carrier and
one person designated by the representative of the employees. If such
carrier or such representative fails to agree upon the establishment of
such a board as provided herein, or to exercise its rights to designate
a member of the board, the carrier or representative making the request
for the establishment of the special board may request the Mediation
Board to designate a member of the special board on behalf of the
carrier or representative upon whom such request was made. Upon receipt
of a request for such designation the Mediation Board shall promptly
make such designation and shall select an individual associated in
interest with the carrier or representative he is to represent, who,
with the member appointed by the carrier or representative requesting
the establishment of the special board, shall constitute the board. Each
member of the board shall be compensated by the party he is to
represent. The members of the board so designated shall determine all
matters not previously agreed upon by the carrier and the representative
of the employees with respect to the establishment and jurisdiction of
the board. If they are unable to agree such matters shall be determined
by a neutral member of the board selected or appointed and compensated
in the same manner as is hereinafter provided with respect to situations
where the members of the board are unable to agree upon an award. Such
neutral member shall cease to be a member of the board when he has
determined such matters. If with respect to any dispute or group of
disputes the members of the board designated by the carrier and the
representative are unable to agree upon an award disposing of the
dispute or group of disputes they shall by mutual agreement select a
neutral person to be a member of the board for the consideration and
disposition of such dispute or group of disputes. In the event the
members of the board designated by the parties are unable, within ten
days after their failure to agree upon an award, to agree upon the
selection of such neutral person, either member of the board may request
the Mediation Board to appoint such neutral person and upon receipt of
such request the Mediation Board shall promptly make such appointment.
The neutral person so selected or appointed shall be compensated and
reimbursed for expenses by the Mediation Board. Any two members of the
board shall be competent to render an award. Such awards shall be final
and binding upon both parties to the dispute and if in favor of the
petitioner, shall direct the other party to comply therewith on or
before the day named. Compliance with such awards shall be enforcible by
proceedings in the United States district courts in the same manner and
subject to the same provisions that apply to proceedings for enforcement
of compliance with awards of the Adjustment Board.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, §3, 44 Stat. 578;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, §3, 48 Stat. 1189; June 20, 1966, Pub. L.
89-456, §§l, 2, 80 Stat. 208, 209; Apr. 23, 1970, Pub. L. 91-234, §§
1-6, 84 Stat. 199, 200.)
AMENDMENTS
1970-Par. First, (a). Pub. L. 91-234, § 1,
substituted "thirty-four members, seventeen of whom shall be
selected by the carriers and seventeen" for "thirty-six
members, eighteen of whom shall be selected by the carriers arid
eighteen".
Par. First, (b). Pub. L. 91-234, §2,
provided that no carrier or system of carriers have more than one voting
representative on any division of the National Railroad Adjustment
Board.
Par. First, (c). Pub. L. 91-234, §3,
inserted "Except as provided in the second paragraph of subsection
(h) of this section" before "the national labor
organizations", and provided that no labor organization have more
than one voting representative on any division of the National Railroad
Adjustment Board.
Par. First, (h). Pub. L. 91-234, § 4,
decreased number of members on First division of Board from ten to eight
members, with an accompanying decrease of five to four as number of
members of such Board elected respectively by the carriers and by the
national labor organizations satisfying the enumerated requirements, and
set forth provisos which limited voting by each labor organization or
carrier member in any proceedings of the division or in adoption of any
award.
Par. First, (k). Pub. L. 91-234, §5,
inserted "except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section"
after proviso.
Par. First, (n). Pub. L. 91-234, §6,
inserted "eligible to vote" after "Adjustment
Board".
1966--Par. First, (m). Pub. L. 89-456, §2(a),
struck out except insofar as they shall contain a money award" from
second sentence.
Par. First, (o). Pub. L. 89-456, §2(b),
inserted provision for a division to make an order to the petitioner
stating that an award favorable to the petitioner should not be made in
any dispute referred to it.
Par. First, (p). Pub. L. 89-456, §2(c),
(d), substituted in second sentence "conclusive on the
parties" for "prima facie evidence of the facts therein
stated" and inserted in last sentence reasons for setting aside
orders of a division of the Adjustment Board, respectively.
Par. First, (q) to (x). Pub. L. 89-456, §2(e),
added par. (q) and redesignated former pars. (q) to (w) as (r) to (x),
respectively.
Par. Second. Pub. L. 89-456, §1, provided
for establishment of special adjustment boards upon request of employees
or carriers to resolve disputes otherwise referable to the Adjustment
Board and made awards of such boards final.
1934-Act June 21, 1934, amended provisions
comprising this section generally.
FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL
PROCEDURE
Costs, see rule 54 and notes of Advisory
Committee under the Rule, Title 28, Appendix, Judiciary and Judicial
Procedure.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as
governing the procedure in all suits of a civil nature whether
cognizable as cases at law or in equity, see rule 1.
Mandamus as abolished but relief yet
available by appropriate action or motion under Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, see rule 81 and Notes of Advisory Committee under the rule.
One form of action, see rule 2.
Pleadings allowed, see rule 7.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 154,
157, 181, 182, 184, 185, 441, 588, 797c, 797h, 797m of this title.
§ 154.
National Mediation Board
First. Board of Mediation abolished;
National Mediation
Board established; composition; term
of office; qualifications; salaries; removal
The Board of Mediation is abolished,
effective thirty days from June 21, 1934, and the members, secretary,
officers, assistants, employees, and agents thereof, in office upon June
21, 1934, shall continue to function and receive their salaries for a
period of thirty days from such date in the same manner as though this
chapter had not been passed. There is established, as an independent
agency in the executive branch of the Government, a board to be known as
the "National Mediation Board", to be composed of three
members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, not more than two of whom shall be of the same political
party. Each member of the Mediation Board in office on January 1, 1965,
shall be deemed to have been appointed for a term of office which shall
expire on July 1 of the year his term would have otherwise expired. The
terms of office of all successors shall expire three years after the
expiration of the terms for which their predecessors were appointed; but
any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration
of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed
only for the unexpired term of his predecessor. Vacancies in the Board
shall not impair the powers nor affect the duties of the Board nor of
the remaining members of the Board. Two of the members in office shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the Board.
Each member of the Board shall receive necessary traveling and
subsistence expenses, or per them allowance in lieu thereof, subject to
the provisions of law applicable thereto, while away from the principal
office of the Board on business required by this chapter. No person in
the employment of or who is pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any
organization of employees or any carrier shall enter upon the duties of
or continue to be a member of the Board. Upon the expiration of his term
of office a member shall continue to serve until his successor is
appointed and shall have qualified.
All cases referred to the Board of Mediation
and unsettled on June 21, 1934, shall be handled to conclusion by the
Mediation Board.
A member of the Board may be removed by the
President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, or
ineligibility, but for, no other cause.
Second. Chairman; principal office;
delegation of powers;
oaths; seal; report
The Mediation Board shall annually designate
a member to act as chairman. The Board shall maintain its principal
office in the District of Columbia, but it may meet at any other place
whenever it deems it necessary so to do. The Board may designate one or
more of its members to exercise the functions of the Board in mediation
proceedings. Each member of the Board shall have power to administer
oaths and affirmations. The Board shall have a seal which shall be
judicially noticed. The Board shall make an annual report to Congress.
Third. Appointment of experts and other
employees; salaries of employees; expenditures
The Mediation Board may (1) subject to the
provisions of the civil service laws, appoint such experts and
assistants to act in a confidential capacity and such other officers and
employees as are essential to the effective transaction of the work of
the Board; (2) in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of
chapter 53 of title 5, fix the salaries of such experts, assistants,
officers, and employees; and (3) make such expenditures (including
expenditures for rent and personal services at the seat of government
and elsewhere, for law books, periodicals, and books of reference, and
for printing and binding, and including expenditures for salaries and
compensation, necessary traveling expenses and expenses actually
incurred for subsistence, and other necessary expenses of the Mediation
Board, Adjustment Board, Regional Adjustment Boards established under
paragraph (w) of section 153 of this title, and boards of arbitration,
in accordance with the provisions of this section and sections 153 and
157 of this title, respectively), as may be necessary for the execution
of the functions vested in the Board, in the Adjustment Board and in the
boards of arbitration, and as may be provided for by the Congress from
time to time. All expenditures of the Board shall be allowed and paid on
the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman.
Fourth. Delegation of powers and duties
The Mediation Board is authorized by its
order to assign, or refer, any portion of its work, business, or
functions arising under this chapter or any other Act of Congress, or
referred to it by Congress or either branch thereof, to an individual
member of the Board or to an employee or employees of the Board to be
designated by such order for action thereon, and by its order at any
time to amend, modify, supplement, or rescind any such assignment or
reference. All such orders shall take effect forthwith and remain in
effect until otherwise ordered by the Board. In conformity with and
subject to the order or orders of the Mediation Board in the premises,
[and] such individual member of the Board or employee designated shall
have power and authority to act as to any of said work, business, or
functions so assigned or referred to him for action by the Board.
Fifth. Transfer of officers and employees of
Board of Mediation; transfer of
appropriation
All officers and employees of the Board of
Mediation (except the members thereof, whose offices are abolished)
whose services in the judgment of the Mediation Board are necessary to
the efficient operation of the Board are transferred to the Board,
without change in classification or compensation; except that the Board
may provide for the adjustment of such classification or compensation to
conform to the duties to which such officers and employees may be
assigned.
All unexpended appropriations for the
operation of the Board of Mediation that are available at the time of
the abolition of the Board of Mediation shall be transferred to the
Mediation Board and shall be available for its use for salaries and
other authorized expenditures.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, §4, 44 Stat. 579;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, §4, 48 Stat. 1193; Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782,
title XI, §1106(a), 63 Stat. 972; Aug. 31, 1964, Pub. L. 88-542, 78
Stat. 748.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The civil service laws, referred to in par.
Third, are set forth in Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
See, particularly, section 3301 et seq. of Title 5.
CODIFICATION
In par. First, provisions that prescribed
the basis compensation of members of the Board were omitted to conform
to the provisions of the Executive Schedule. See sections 5314 and 5315
of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
In par. Third, "subject to the
provisions of the civil service laws, appoint such experts and
assistants to act in a confidential capacity and such other officers and
employees" substituted for "appoint such experts and
assistants to act in a confidential capacity and, subject to the
provisions of the civil-service laws, such other officers and
employees". All such appointments are now subject to the civil
service laws unless specifically excepted by such laws or by laws
enacted subsequent to Executive Order 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the
President pursuant to the Act of Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, §1,
54 Stat. 1211, which covered most excepted positions into the classified
(competitive) civil service. The Order is set out as a note under
section 3301 of Title 5.
In par. Third, "chapter 51 and
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5" substituted for "the
Classification Act of 1949, as amended" on authority of Pub. L.
89-554, §7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which
enacted Title 5.
AMENDMENTS
1964-Par. First. Pub. L. 88-542 inserted
sentences proIliding that each member of the Board in office on Jan. 1,
1965, shall be deemed to have been appointed for a term of office which
shall expire on July 1 of the year his term would have otherwise
expired, and that upon the expiration of his term of office a member
shall continue to serve until his successor is appointed and shall have
qualified, and struck out provisions which related to terms of office of
members first appointed.
1949-Par. First. Act Oct. 15, 1949,
increased basic rate f compensation for members of the board to $15,000
per 0 year.
Par. Third. Act Oct. 28, 1949, substituted
"Classification Act of 194911 for "Classification Act of
1923". 1934-Act June 21, 1934, amended section generally.
REPEALS
Act Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, cited as a
credit to this section, was repealed (subject to a savings clause) by
Pub. L. 89-554, Sept. 6, 1966, §8, 80 Stat. 632, 655.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in section 157
of this title.
§ 155.
Functions of Mediation Board
First. Disputes within jurisdiction
of Mediation Board
The parties, or either party, to a dispute
between an employee or group of employees and a carrier may invoke the
services of the Mediation Board in any of the following cases:
(a) A dispute concerning changes in rates of
pay, rules, or working conditions not adjusted by the parties in
conference.
(b) Any other dispute not referable to the
National Railroad Adjustment Board and not adjusted in conference
between the parties or where conferences are refused.
The Mediation Board may proffer its services
in case any labor emergency is found by it to exist at any time.
In either event the said Board shall
promptly j)ut itself in communication with the parties to such
controversy, and shall use its best efforts, by mediation, to bring them
to agreement. If such efforts to bring about an amicable settlement
through mediation shall be unsuccessful, the said Board shall at once
endeavor as its final required action (except as provided in paragraph
third of this section and in section 160 of this title) to induce the
parties to submit their controversy to arbitration, in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
If arbitration at the request of the Board
shall be refused by one or both parties, the Board shall at once notify
both parties in writing that its mediatory efforts have failed and for
thirty days thereafter, unless in the intervening period the parties
agree to arbitration, or an emergency board shall be created under
section 160 of this title, no change shall be made in the rates of pay,
rules, or working conditions or established practices in effect prior to
the time the dispute arose.
Second. Interpretation of agreement
In any case in which a controversy arises
over the meaning or the application of any agreement reached through
mediation under the provisions of this chapter, either party to the said
agreement, or both, may apply to the Mediation Board for an
interpretation of the meaning or application of such agreement. The said
Board shall upon receipt of such request notify the parties to the
controversy, and after a hearing of both sides give its interpretation
within thirty days.
Third. Duties of Board with respect to
arbitration of disputes; arbitrators; acknowledgment of agreement;
notice to arbitrators; reconvening of arbitrators; filing contracts with Board; custody of records
and documents
The Mediation Board shall have the following
duties with respect to the arbitration of disputes under section 157 of
this title:
(a) On failure of the arbitrators named by
the parties to agree on the remaining arbitrator or arbitrators within
the time set by section 157 of this title, it shall be the duty of the
Mediation Board to name such remaining arbitrator or arbitrators. It
shall be the duty of the Board in naming such arbitrator or arbitrators
to appoint only those whom the Board shall deem wholly disinterested in
the controversy to be arbitrated and impartial and without bias as
between the parties to such arbitration. Should, however, the Board name
an arbitrator or arbitrators not so disinterested and impartial, then,
upon proper investigation and presentation of the facts, the Board shall
promptly remove such arbitrator.
If an arbitrator named by the Mediation
Board, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, shall be
removed by such Board as provided by this chapter, or if such an
arbitrator refuses or is unable to serve, it shall be the duty of the
Mediation Board, promptly, to select another arbitrator, in the same
manner as provided in this chapter for an original appointment by the
Mediation Board.
(b) Any member of the Mediation Board is
authorized to take the acknowledgment of an agreement to arbitrate under
this chapter. When so acknowledged, or when acknowledged by the parties
before a notary public or the clerk of a district court or a court of
appeals of the United States, such agreement to arbitrate shall be
delivered to a member of said Board or transmitted to said Board, to be
filed in its office.
(c) When an agreement to arbitrate has been
filed with the Mediation Board, or with one of
its members, as provided by this section,
and when the said Board has been furnished the names of the arbitrators
chosen by the parties to the controversy it shall be the duty of the
Board to cause a notice in writing to be served upon said arbitrators,
notifying them of their appointment, requesting them to meet promptly to
name the remaining arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the
Board of Arbitration, and advising them of the period within which, as
provided by the agreement to arbitrate, they are empowered to name such
arbitrator or arbitrators.
(d) Either party to an arbitration desiring
the reconvening of a board of arbitration to pass upon any controversy
arising over the meaning or application of an award may so notify the
Mediation Board in writing, stating in such notice the question or
questions to be submitted to such reconvened Board. The Mediation Board
shall thereupon promptly communicate with the members of the Board of
Arbitration, or a subcommittee of such Board appointed for such purpose
pursuant to a provision in the agreement to arbitrate, and arrange for
the reconvening of said Board of Arbitration or subcommittee, and shall
notify the respective parties to the controversy of the time and place
at which the Board, or the subcommittee, will meet for hearings upon the
matters in controversy to be submitted to it. No evidence other than
that contained in the record filed with the original award shall be
received or considered by such reconvened Board or subcommittee, except
such evidence as may be necessary to illustrate the interpretations
suggested by the parties. If any member of the original Board is unable
or unwilling to serve on such reconvened Board or subcommittee thereof,
another arbitrator shall be named in the same manner and with the same
powers and duties as such original arbitrator.
(e) Within sixty days after June 21, 1934,
every carrier shall file with the Mediation Board a copy of each
contract with its employees in effect on the lst day of April 1934,
covering rates of pay, rules, and working conditions. If no contract
with any craft or class of its employees has been entered into, the
carrier shall file with the Mediation Board a statement of that fact,
including also a statement of the rates of pay, rules, and working
conditions applicable in dealing with such craft or class. When any new
contract is executed or change is made in an existing contract with any
class or craft of its employees covering rates of pay, rules, or working
conditions, or in those rates of pay, rules, and working conditions of
employees not covered by contract, the carrier shall file the same with
the Mediation Board within thirty days after such new contract or change
in existing contract has been executed or rates of pay, rules, and
working conditions have been made effective.
(f) The Mediation Board shall be the
custodian of all papers and documents heretofore filed with or
transferred to the Board of Mediation bearing upon the settlement,
adjustment, or determination of disputes between carriers and their
employees or upon mediation or arbitration proceedings held under or
pursuant to the provisions of any Act of Congress in respect thereto;
and the President is authorized to designate a custodian of the records
and property of the Board of Mediation until the transfer and delivery
of such records to the Mediation Board and to require the transfer and
delivery to the Mediation Board of any and all such papers and documents
filed with it or in its possession.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, §5, 44 Stat. 580;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, §5, 48 Stat. 1195; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, §
32(a), 62 Stat. 991; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 127, 63 Stat. 107.)
CODIFICATION
As originally enacted, par. Third (b)
contained a reference to the "circuit court of appeals". Act
June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949 substituted "court of
appeals" for "circuit court of appeals".
AMENDMENTS
1934-Act June 21, 1934, amended generally
par. First and par. Second, (e) and (f).
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 156,
157, 183 of this title.
§ 156. Procedure in changing rates
of pay, rules, and
working conditions
Carriers and representatives of the
employees shall give at least thirty days' written notice of an intended
change in agreements affecting rates of pay, rules, or working
conditions, and the time and place for the beginning of conference
between the representatives of the parties interested in such intended
changes shall be agreed upon within ten days after the receipt of said
notice, and said time shall be within the thirty days provided in the
notice. In every case where such notice of intended change has been
given, or conferences are being held with reference thereto, or the
services of the Mediation Board have been requested by either party, or
said Board has proffered its services, rates of pay, rules, or working
conditions shall not be altered by the carrier until the controversy has
been finally acted upon, as required by section 155 of this title, by
the Mediation Board, unless a period of ten days has elapsed after
termination of conferences without request for or proffer of the
services of the Mediation Board.
(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, §6, 44 Stat. 582;
June 21, 1934, ch. 691, § 6, 48 Stat. 1197.)
AMENDMENTS
1934-Act June 21, 1934, inserted "in
agreements" after "intended change" in text, struck out
provision formerly contained in text concerning changes requested by
more than one class, and substituted "Mediation Board" for
"Board of Mediation" wherever appearing-
WAGE AND SALARY ADJUSTMENTS
Ex. Ord. No. 9299, eff. Feb. 4, 1943, 8 F.R.
1669, provided procedure with respect to wage and salary adjustments for
employees subject to this chapter.
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER
SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 152,
157, 726, 741, 797g, 1346 of this title; title 11 section 1167.
§ 157.
Arbitration
First. Submission of controversy to
arbitration
Whenever a controversy shall arise between a
carrier or carriers and its or their employees which is not settled
either in conference betweeri representatives of the parties or by the
appropriate adjustment board or through mediation, in the manner
provided in sections 151156 of this title such controversy may, by
agreement of the parties to such controversy, be submitted to the
arbitration of a board of three (or, if the parties to the controversy
so stipulate, of six) persons: Provided, however, That the
failure or refusal of either party to submit a controversy to
arbitration shall not be construed as a violation of any legal
obligation imposed upon such party by the terms of this chapter or
otherwise.
Second. Manner of selecting board of
arbitration
Such board of arbitration shall be chosen in
the following manner:
(a) In the case of a board of three the
carrier or carriers and the representatives of the employees, parties
respectively to the agreement to arbitrate, shall each name one
arbitrator; the two arbitrators thus chosen shall select a third
arbitrator. If the arbitrators chosen by the parties shall fail to name
the third arbitrator within five days after their first meeting, such
third arbitrator shall be named by the Mediation Board.
(b) In the case of a board of six the
carrier or carriers and the representatives of the employees, parties
respectively to the agreement to arbitrate, shall each name two
arbitrators; the four arbitrators thus chosen shall, by a majority vote,
select the remaining two arbitrators. If the arbitrators chosen by the
parties shall fail to name the two arbitrators within fifteen days after
their first meeting, the said two arbitrators, or as many of them as
have not been named, shall be named by the Mediation Board.
Third. Board of arbitration; organization;
compensation; procedure
(a) Notice of selection or failure to select
arbitrators
When the arbitrators selected by the
respective parties have agreed upon the remaining arbitrator or
arbitrators, they shall notify the Mediation Board; and, in the event of
their failure to agree upon any or upon all of the necessary arbitrators
within the period fixed by this chapter, they shall, at the expiration
of such period, notify the Mediation Board of the arbitrators selected,
if any, or of their failure to make or to complete such selection.
(b) Organization of board; procedure
The board of arbitration shall organize and
select its own chairman and make all necessary rules for conducting its
hearings: Provided, however, That the board of arbitration
shall be bound to give the parties to the controversy a full and fair
hearing, which shall include an opportunity to present evidence in
support of their claims, and an opportunity to present their case in
person, by counsel, or by other representative as they may respectively
elect.
(c) Duty to reconvene; questions considered
Upon notice from the Mediation Board that
the parties, or either party, to an arbitration desire the reconvening
of the board of arbitration (or a subcommittee of such board of
arbitration appointed for such purpose pursuant to the agreement to
arbitrate) to pass upon any controversy over the meaning or application
of their award, the board, or its subcommittee, shall at once reconvene.
No question other than, or in addition to, the questions relating to the
meaning or application of the award, submitted by the party or parties
in writing, shall be considered by the reconvened board of arbitration
or its subcommittee.
Such rulings shall be acknowledged by such
board or subcommittee thereof in the same manner, and filed in the same
district court clerk's office, as the original award and become a part
thereof.
(d) Competency of arbitrators
No arbitrator, except those chosen by the
Mediation Board, shall be incompetent to act as an arbitrator because of
his interest in the controversy to be arbitrated, or because of his
connection with or partiality to either of the parties to the
arbitration.
(e) Compensation and expenses
Each member of any board of arbitration
created under the provisions of this chapter named by either party to
the arbitration shall be compensated by the party naming him. Each
arbitrator selected by the arbitrators or named by the Mediation Board
shall receive from the Mediation Board such compensation as the
Mediation Board may fix, together with his necessary traveling expenses
and expenses actually incurred for subsistence, while serving as an
arbitrator.
(f) Award; disposition of original and
copies
The board of arbitration shall furnish a
certified copy of its award to the respective parties to the
controversy, and shall transmit the original, together with the papers
and proceedings and a transcript of the evidence taken at the hearings,
certified under the hands of at least a majority of the arbitrators, to
the clerk of the district court of the United States for the district
wherein the controversy arose or the arbitration is entered into, to be
filed in said clerk's office as hereinafter provided. The said board
shall also furnish a certified copy of its award, and the papers and
proceedings, including testimony relating thereto, to the Mediation
Board 0 be filed in its office; and in addition a certified copy of its
award shall be filed in the office of the Interstate Commerce
Commission: Provided, however, That such award shall not be
construed to diminish or extinguish any of the powers or duties of the
Interstate Commerce Commission, under subtitle IV of title 49.
(g) Compensation of assistants to board of
arbitration; expenses; quarters
A board of arbitration may, subject to the
approval of the Mediation Board, employ and fix the compensation of such
assistants as it deems necessary in carrying on the arbitration
proceedings. The compensation of such employees, together with their
necessary traveling expenses and expenses actually incurred for
subsistence, while so employed, and the necessary expenses of boards of
arbitration, shall be paid by the Mediation Board.
Whenever practicable, the board shall be
supplied with suitable quarters in any Federal building located at its
place of meeting or at any place where the board may conduct its
proceedings or deliberations.
(h) Testimony before board; oaths;
attendance of witnesses;
production of documents; subpoenas; fees
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