Page 1 GAO-12-835R National Mediation Board

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548

June 27, 2012

Congressional Committees

Subject: National Mediation Board Mandates in the FAA Modernization and Reform 

 Act of 2012

This letter is to confirm our approach to the work mandated for GAO in the FAA 

Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-95, § 1004, pertaining to the 

National Mediation Board (NMB) and discussions with your staff regarding these 

mandates. The first mandate required GAO to review, within 180 days, the 

processes applied by the NMB to certify and decertify representation of employees 

by labor organizations, including the existing processes, changes to such processes 

over time, and the extent to which those processes are consistent with the 

processes of other agencies with jurisdiction over labor relations.

1 The second 

mandate required GAO to evaluate and audit, within 2 years, the programs, 

operations, activities, and expenditures of the NMB.2 As described below, we 

discussed with your staff and they concurred with our proposal to terminate our work 

on the 180-day mandate and begin working on the 2-year mandate.

We met with your staff on May 3, 2012, and contacted them later by e-mail with a 

proposal regarding the information that we could report in response to the first 

mandate. Subsequently, as described below, the Congressional Research Service 

(CRS) issued a comprehensive report on May 11, 2012, entitled Federal Labor 

Relations Statutes: An Overview, that addresses key questions posed by the first 

mandate.3 The information provided in the CRS report is very similar to the 

information we proposed to report in order to respond to the 180-day mandate on 

NMB’s certification and decertification procedures. 

 

1 See Pub. L. No. 112-95, § 1004, 126 Stat. 11, 147 (adding Railway Labor Act § 15(b)).

2 See Pub. L. No. 112-95, § 1004, 126 Stat. 11, 147 (adding Railway Labor Act § 15(a)).

3 Congressional Research Service, Federal Labor Relations Statutes: An Overview, R42526 

(Washington, D.C.: May 11, 2012).
Page 2 GAO-12-835R National Mediation Board

Specifically, the CRS report describes those procedures and how they have 

changed over time, including the recent amendments to the certification procedures 

that NMB made as part of its May 11, 2010, rulemaking. In addition, the CRS report 

describes certification and decertification procedures of the other federal agencies 

that have key responsibilities for labor relations: the National Labor Relations Board 

and the Federal Labor Relations Authority. In describing the statutes authorizing 

these three entities, and the corresponding legislative history, CRS also provides 

context for the varying approaches adopted by the agencies. In addition, the U.S. 

Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently upheld the 2010 

changes to NMB’s certification procedures in Air Transp. Ass’n of Am. Inc. v. Nat’l 

Mediation Board.

4 In finding that NMB’s certification procedures were a reasonable

implementation of the Railway Labor Act, it analyzed the same legal sources that 

GAO would have in undertaking this work: the law itself, the legislative history, and 

relevant judicial opinions. 

To avoid duplication of efforts, we notified your offices that we proposed to terminate 

our work on the 180-day mandate and begin working on the 2-year NMB mandate 

(Railway Labor Act § 15(a)). We discussed this with your staff and they concurred 

with this proposal. Therefore, we are proceeding with terminating work on the first 

mandate and beginning work on the second mandate.

We look forward to working with you and your staff on the 2-year mandate. If you 

have any questions, please contact me at (202) 512-3863 or moranr@gao.gov, or 

Gretta Goodwin, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-7952 or goodwing@gao.gov. 

Revae Moran

Director, Education, Workforce, 

 and Income Security Issues

 

4 663 F.3d 476 (2011).
Page 3 GAO-12-835R National Mediation Board

List of Congressional Committees

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller , IV 

Chairman

The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison

Ranking Member

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

United States Senate 

The Honorable Tom Harkin

Chairman

The Honorable Michael B. Enzi

Ranking Member

Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions 

United States Senate 

The Honorable John L. Mica 

Chairman

The Honorable Nick J. Rahall, II

Ranking Member

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

House of Representatives

(131175) 
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