I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1463

To provide for the adoption of mandatory standards and procedures governing

the actions of arbitrators in the arbitration of labor disputes involving

transit agencies operating in the national capital area.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 6, 1995

Mr. WOLF (for himself and Mr. DAVIS) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To provide for the adoption of mandatory standards and

procedures governing the actions of arbitrators in the

arbitration of labor disputes involving transit agencies

operating in the national capital area.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Capital Area

5 Interest Arbitration Standards Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) affordable public transportation is essential

2 to the economic vitality of the national capital area

3 and is an essential component of regional efforts to

4 improve air quality to meet environmental require5 ments and to improve the health of both residents

6 of and visitors to the national capital area as well

7 as to preserve the beauty and dignity of the Nation’s

8 capital;

9 (2) use of mass transit by both residents of and

10 visitors to the national capital area is substantially

11 affected by the prices charged for such mass transit

12 services, prices that are substantially affected by

labor costs, since more than 2 13 ⁄3 of operating costs

14 are attributable to labor costs;

15 (3) labor costs incurred in providing mass tran16 sit in the national capital area have increased at an

17 alarming rate and wages and benefits of operators

18 and mechanics currently are among the highest in

19 the Nation;

20 (4) higher operating costs incurred for public

21 transit in the national capital area cannot be offset

22 by increasing costs to patrons, since this often dis23 courages ridership and thus undermines the public

24 interest in promoting the use of public transit;
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1 (5) spiraling labor costs cannot be offset by the

2 governmental entities that are responsible for sub3 sidy payments for public transit services since local

4 governments generally, and the District of Columbia

5 government in particular, are operating under severe

6 fiscal constraints;

7 (6) imposition of mandatory standards applica8 ble to arbitrators resolving arbitration disputes in9 volving interstate compact agencies operating in the

10 national capital area will ensure that wage increases

11 are justified and do not exceed the ability of transit

12 patrons and taxpayers to fund the increase; and

13 (7) Federal legislation is necessary under Arti14 cle I of section 8 of the United States Constitution

15 to balance the need to moderate and lower labor

16 costs while maintaining industrial peace.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—It is therefore the purpose of this Act

18 to adopt standards governing arbitration which must be

19 applied by arbitrators resolving disputes involving inter20 state compact agencies operating in the national capital

21 area in order to lower operating costs for public transpor22 tation in the Washington metropolitan area.

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

24 As used in this Act—

25 (1) the term ‘‘arbitration’’ means—
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1 (A) the arbitration of disputes, regarding

2 the terms and conditions of employment, that is

3 required under an interstate compact governing

4 an interstate compact agency operating in the

5 national capital area; and

6 (B) does not include the interpretation and

7 application of rights arising from an existing

8 collective bargaining agreement;

9 (2) the term ‘‘arbitrator’’ refers to either a sin10 gle arbitrator, or a board of arbitrators, chosen

11 under applicable procedures;

12 (3) an interstate compact agency’s ‘‘funding

13 ability’’ is the ability of the interstate compact agen14 cy, or of any governmental jurisdiction which pro15 vides subsidy payments or budgetary assistance to

16 the interstate compact agency, to obtain the nec17 essary financial resources to pay for wage and bene18 fit increases for employees of the interstate compact

19 agency;

20 (4) the term ‘‘interstate compact agency operat21 ing in the national capital area’’ means any inter22 state compact agency which provides public transit

23 services;

24 (5) the term ‘‘interstate compact agency’’

25 means any agency established by an interstate com-
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1 pact to which the District of Columbia is a signa2 tory; and

3 (6) the term ‘‘public welfare’’ includes, with re4 spect to arbitration under an interstate compact—

5 (A) the financial ability of the individual

6 jurisdictions participating in the compact to pay

7 for the costs of providing public transit services;

8 and

9 (B) the average per capita tax burden,

10 during the term of the collective bargaining

11 agreement to which the arbitration relates, of

12 the residents of the Washington, D.C. metro13 politan area, and the effect of an arbitration

14 award rendered pursuant to such arbitration on

15 the respective income or property tax rates of

16 the jurisdictions which provide subsidy pay17 ments to the interstate compact agency estab18 lished under the compact.

19 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ARBITRATORS.

20 (a) FACTORS IN MAKING ARBITRARY AWARD.—An

21 arbitrator rendering an arbitration award involving the

22 employees of an interstate compact agency operating in

23 the national capital area may not make a finding or a deci24 sion for inclusion in a collective bargaining agreement gov-
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1 erning conditions of employment without considering the

2 following factors:

3 (1) The existing terms and conditions of em4 ployment of the employees in the bargaining unit.

5 (2) All available financial resources of the inter6 state compact agency.

7 (3) The annual increase or decrease in

8 consumer prices for goods and services as reflected

9 in the most recent consumer price index for the

10 Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, published by

11 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States

12 Department of Labor.

13 (4) The wages, benefits, and terms and condi14 tions of the employment of other employees who per15 form, in other jurisdictions in the Washington, D.C.

16 standard metropolitan statistical area, services simi17 lar to those in the bargaining unit.

18 (5) The special nature of the work performed

19 by the employees in the bargaining unit, including

20 any hazards or the relative ease of employment,

21 physical requirements, educational qualifications, job

22 training and skills, shift assignments, and the de23 mands placed upon the employees as compared to

24 other employees of the interstate compact agency.
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1 (6) The interests and welfare of the employees

2 in the bargaining unit, including—

3 (A) the overall compensation presently re4 ceived by the employees, having regard not only

5 for wage rates but also for wages for time not

6 worked, including vacations, holidays, and other

7 excused absences;

8 (B) all benefits received by the employees,

9 including previous bonuses, insurance, and pen10 sions; and

11 (C) the continuity and stability of employ12 ment.

13 (7) The public welfare.

14 (b) COMPACT AGENCY’S FUNDING ABILITY.—An ar15 bitrator rendering an arbitration award involving the em16 ployees of an interstate compact agency operating in the

17 national capital area may not, with respect to a collective

18 bargaining agreement governing conditions of employ19 ment, provide for salaries and other benefits that exceed

20 the interstate compact agency’s funding ability.

21 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL AWARD.—In resolv22 ing a dispute submitted to arbitration involving the em23 ployees of an interstate compact agency operating in the

24 national capital area, the arbitrator shall issue a written

25 award that demonstrates that all the factors set forth in
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1 subsections (a) and (b) have been considered and applied.

2 An award may grant an increase in pay rates or benefits

3 (including insurance and pension benefits), or reduce

4 hours of work, only if the arbitrator concludes that any

5 costs to the agency do not adversely affect the public wel6 fare. The arbitrator’s conclusion regarding the public wel7 fare must be supported by substantial evidence.

8 SEC. 5. PROCEDURES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF AWARDS.

9 (a) MODIFICATIONS AND FINALITY OF AWARD.—In

10 the case of an arbitration award to which section 4 applies,

11 the interstate compact agency and the employees in the

12 bargaining unit, through their representative, may agree

13 in writing upon any modifications to the award within 10

14 days after the award is received by the parties. After the

15 end of that 10-day period, the award, with any such modi16 fications, shall become binding upon the interstate com17 pact agency, the employees in the bargaining unit, and

18 the employees’ representative.

19 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Each party to an award that

20 becomes binding under subsection (a) shall take all actions

21 necessary to implement the award.

22 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Within 60 days after an

23 award becomes binding under subsection (a), the inter24 state compact agency or the exclusive representative of the

25 employees concerned may file a civil action in a court
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1 which has jurisdiction over the interstate compact agency

2 for review of the award. The court shall review the award

3 on the record, and shall vacate the award or any part of

4 the award, after notice and a hearing, if—

5 (1) the award is in violation of applicable law;

6 (2) the arbitrator exceeded the arbitrator’s pow7 ers;

8 (3) the decision by the arbitrator is arbitrary or

9 capricious;

10 (4) the arbitrator conducted the hearing con11 trary to the provisions of this Act or other statutes

12 or rules that apply to the arbitration so as to sub13 stantially prejudice the rights of a party;

14 (5) there was partiality or misconduct by the

15 arbitrator prejudicing the rights of a party;

16 (6) the award was procured by corruption,

17 fraud, or bias on the part of the arbitrator; or

18 (7) the arbitrator did not comply with the pro19 visions of section 4.

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