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1-3e COMPOSITION OF FIRST DIVISION, NATIONAL

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GOVERNMEN1 RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

Storage KSU 

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON

TRANSPORTATION AND AERONAUTICS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 15349

A BILL TO AMEND THE RAILWAY LABOR ACT IN ORDER

TO CHANGE THE NUMBER OF CARRIER REPRESENTATIVES AND LABOR ORGANIZATION REPRESENTATIVES ON

THE NATIONAL RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD, AND FOR

OTHER PURPOSES

JANUARY 26, 1970

Serial No. 91-36

Printed for the use of the

Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

39-957 WASHINGTON : 1970
COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE

HARLEY 0. STAGGERS, West Virginia, Chairman

SAMUEL N. FRIEDEL, Maryland

TORBERT H. MACDONALD, Massachusetts

JOHN JARMAN, Oklahoma

JOHN E. MOSS, California

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan

PAUL G. ROGERS, Florida

LIONEL VAN DEE RLIN, California

J. J. PICKLE, Texas

FRED B. ROONEY, Pennsylvania

JOHN M. MURPHY, New York

DAVID E. SATTERFIELD III, Virginia

BROCK ADAMS, Washington

RICHARD L. OTTIN GE R, New York

RAY BLANTON, Tennessee

W. S. (BILL) STUCKEY, JR., Georgia

PETER N. KYROS, Maine

BOB ECKHARDT, Texas

ROBERT 0. TIE RNAN, Rhode Island

RICHARDSON PREYER, North Carolina

WILLIAM L. SPRINGER, Illinois

SAMUEL L. DEVINE, Ohio

ANCHER NELSEN, Minnesota

HASTINGS KEITH, Massachusetts

GLENN CUNNINGHAM, Nebraska

JAMES T. BROYHILL, North Carolina

JAMES HARVEY, Michigan

ALBERT W. WATSON, South Carolina

TIM LEE CARTER, Kentucky

G. ROBERT WATKINS, Pennsylvania

DONALD G. BROTZMAN, Colorado

CLARENCE J. BROWN, Ohio

DAN KUYKENDALL, Tennessee

JOE SKUBITZ, Kansas

FLETCHER THOMPSON, Georgia

JAMES F. HASTINGS, New York

W. E. WILLIAMSON, Clerk

KENNETH J. PAINTER, Assistant Clerk

JAMES M. MENGER, Jr.

WILLIAM J. DIXON

SUBCOMMITTEE ON

SAMUEL N.

JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan

J. J. PICKLE, Texas

BROCK ADAMS, Washington

Professional Staff

ROBERT F. GUTHRIE

KURT BORCHARDT

TRANSPORTATION AND AERONAUTICS

FRIEDEL, Maryland, Chairman

SAMUEL L. DEVINE, Ohio

GLENN CUNNINGHAM, Nebraska

ALBERT W. WATSON, South Carolina

DAN KUYKENDALL, Tennessee
•

CONTENTS

Page

Text of H.R. 15349 1

Report of National Mediation Board 2

Statement of—

McCulloch, E. L., national legislative representative and assistant

grand chief engineer, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 4

Quarles, Winton D., Jr., vice chairman, National Railway Labor

Conference 4

Schoene, Lester P., attorney, Congress of Railway Unions 2

COMPOSITION OF FIRST DIVISION, NATIONAL

RAILROAD ADJUSTMENT BOARD

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 1970

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND AERONAUTICS,

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE,

Washington, D .0 .

The subcommittee met at 11 :30 a.m., pursuant to notice in room

2123, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Samuel N. Friedel (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. FRIEDEL. The subcommittee will please be in order.

The hearings today are on a noncontroversial, agreed-on bill amending the Railway Labor Act to bring up to date the law relative to the

composition of the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board.

This Board, which handles individual grievances under the Railway

Labor Act, by law consists of 10 members, five representing carriers

and five representing unions.

Four of the unions represented on this Board have merged into one,

so that there is a discrepancy in the law today between one provision

noting that there shall be five union representatives on the First Division, and another provision of the law prohibiting any individual

union from having more than one representative on the Board.

This bill, which has been agreed to by the railroads and by the

unions involved, would revise the law to reflect the existing situation.

At this point in the record there will be included the text of the

bill, H.R. 15349, and an agency report thereon.

(The documents referred to follow:)

[H.R. 15349, 91st Cong., 1st sess., introduced by Mr.- Staggers on

December 18, 1969]

A BILL to amend the Railway Labor Act in order to change the number of carrier

representatives and labor organization representatives on the National Railroad Adjustment Board, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States

of America in Congress assembled, That subsection (a) of section 3, First, of the

Railway Labor Act is amended by 'striking out "thirty-six members, eighteen of

whom shall be selected by the carriers and eighteen" and inserting in lieu thereof

"thirty-four members, seventeen of whom shall be selected by the carriers and

seventeen."

SEC. 2. Subsection (b) of said section 3, First, is amended by inserting the

word "voting" ahead of the words "representative on any division of the Board.".

SEC. 3. Subsection (c) of said section 3, First, is amended by adding the following at the start thereof: "Except as provided in the second paragraph of subsection (h) of this section," and inserting the word "voting" ahead of the words

"representative on any division of the Board.".

(1)
2

SEC. 4. The second sentence of subsection (h) of said section 3, First, is amended

by amending the last sentence thereof to read as follows: "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 section 2 hereof 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."

SEC. 5. Subsection (k) of said section 3, First, is amended by inserting the

words "except as provided in paragraph (h) of this section," after the words

"Provided, however, That."

SEC. 6. Subsection (n) of said section 3, First, is amended by inserting the

words "eligible to vote" after the words "Adjustment Board."

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD,

OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN,

Washington, D.C., January 15, 1970.

Hon. HARLEY 0. STAGGERS,

Ch a inn an, House of Representatives, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR'Mn. CHAIRMAN: On January 12, 1970, you referred to the Chairman of

the National Mediation Board for a prompt report, a copy of H.R. 15349, your

Bill, "To amend the Railway Labor Act in order to change the number of carrier

representatives and labor organization representatives on the National Railroad

Adjustment Board, and for other purposes."

Pursuant to your request, this Board has examined the substantive provisions

of the above-mentioned Bill, which is designed to eliminate a statutory impasse

that has precluded the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board

from processing claims sine the merger of four unions out of the five formerly

represented on said division.

The National Mediation Board understands that the proposed legislation is

supported by the two unions involved as well as representatives of all the rail

carriers and that H.R. 15349 reflects the exact terms of their agreement. Accordingly, this Board respectfully approves of favorable and expeditious consideration

by the Congress.

Time has not permitted securing advice from the Bureau of the Budget as to

the relationship of this report to the program of the President.

Sincerely yours,

FRANCIS A. O'NEILL, Jr., Chairman.

Mr. FRIEDEL. Our first witness this morning will be Mr. Lester P.

Schoene.

STATEMENT OF LESTER P. SCHOENE, ATTORNEY, ON BEHALF OF

THE CONGRESS OF RAILWAY UNIONS

Air. SCI WEN E. r. Chairman and members of the committee, my

name is Lester P. Schoene. I am a lawyer, a member of the firm of

Bernstein, Alper, Schoene & Friedman, with offices at 818 18th Street,

Washington, D.C.

I have been representing various railway labor organizations for

something over 25 years. I appear here this morning as the representative of the Congress of Railway Unions.
3

The 'Congress of Railway Unions consists of the Brotherhood of

Railway, Airline & Steamship Clerks, the United Transportation

Union

'

the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the Hotel

& Restaurant Employees & Bartenders International Union, and the

Seafarers International Union of North America.

This is an organization which collectively represents well over a

majority of the railway employees of the country. However, the union

that is principally involved in the present legislation is the United

Transportation Union, which, itself, is a result or a consequence of

the merger of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Brotherhood

of Locomotive, Firemen & Enginemen, the Order of Railway Conductors & Brakemen, and the Switchmen's Union of North America.

As the chairman just stated, the bill is made necessary by this merger

because the present law provides that the First Division of the National

Railroad Adjustment Board shall consist of 10 members, five to be

designated by the unions and five by the carriers.

But it also provides that no union shall have more than one representative on any Division of the Board.

The result is since the merger of these unions, the First Division

has been unable to function because its composition would be illegal

under the restriction.

The chairman has already indicatedin his opening remarks how the

Division would be reconstituted by this bill, and it is unnecessary, I

think, for me to repeat that.

It would simply mean that there would be only four members voting

on any particular matter, although the Division would consist of eight

members.

As the chairman has already pointed out, the bill has been agreed

to by all the involved unions, namely two unions, really, that are involved, the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of

Locomotive Engineers.

They are the only two unions among the standard railway labor

organizations that take cases to the First Division.

The carriers have also agreed to it, and the executive branch of

the Government approves the bill.

I would recommend most humbly to the committee that the bill be

approved and enacted as quickly as possible.

Mr. FRIEDEL. I want to thank you, Mr. Schoene.

As I said earlier, I understand that both management and labor

have agreed on this bill.

Mr. SCHOENE. That is correct, insofar as the unions affected by the

bill are concerned.

Mr. FRIEDEL. Are there any questions?

Mr. KITYKENDALL. All I have to say is any time I can find management and labor agreeing on something that doesn't cost anything, I am

for it.

Mr. SOIMENE. Thank you.

Mr. FRIEDEL. Thank you.

Our next witness will be Mr. Ed McCulloch, president of the Locomotive Engineers.
4

STATEMENT OF E. L. McCULLOCH, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE

REPRESENTATIVE AND ASSISTANT GRAND CHIEF ENGINEER,

BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS

Mr. McCumocH. Thank you.

I am E. L. McCulloch, national legislative representative of the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and in this capacity, wish to

convey to you and the members of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Aeronautics of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, the expressed appreciation of our chief executive officer, Grand

Chief Engineer C. J. Coughlin, for the prompt scheduling of hearings

on the urgent matter of amending the Railway Labor Act to change

the number of carrier representatives and organization representatives on the National Railway Adjustment Board as contained in

H.R. 15349.

Several efforts have been made to resolve this matter, including

H.R. 8137, by Congressman Friedel of Maryland, and H.R. 15170, by

Congressman Tiernan of Rhode Island, each of which have considerable merit.

However, from years of experience with the administration of labor

laws and/or contractual agreements, we have learned that the first

prerequisite to successful legislation is agreement between the parties

and accordingly, advise that the proposed amendments as contained

in H.R. 15349 are the result of such an agreement and acceptable to the

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Therefore, we encourage its

adoption.

Mr. FRIEDEL. Thank you very much.

Our next witness is Mr. Quarles.

STATEMENT OF WINTON D. QUARLES, IR., VICE CHAIRMAN,

NATIONAL RAILWAY LABOR CONFERENCE

Mr. QUARLES. Mr. Chairman, I am Winton D. Quarles, Jr., vice

chairman of the National Railway Labor Conference. We represent

the Nation's railroads in matters of national import.

We would like to stipulate that we are in accord with the provisions of this bill and ask that you give it prompt consideration in

order that it may be enacted.

Mr. FRIEDEL. Thank you very much.

Are there any questions?

If not, thank you very much.

Now the committee will go into executive session.

(Whereupon, at 11 :45 a.m. the subcommittee adjourned.)

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