The RLA was passed in 1926, in part to establish a legal framework for avoiding disruptions in rail service and interstate commerce. The RLA was later amended to extend its provisions to the airline industry, and also to establish NMB as a federal agency to administer the law. According to NMB, the original bill was drafted jointly by rail management and labor representatives and was enacted by Congress without amendment. The RLA establishes several key principles. For example: It requires parties (rail and air carriers and their employees’ representatives) to “exert every reasonable effort” to settle disputes to avoid interruption to commerce or to the operation of any railroad or airline. It gives participants the right to designate their representatives under the Act without interference from the other party and assures employees the right to determine a collective bargaining representative without interference from their employers. It establishes procedures for resolving disputes over pay, rules, or working conditions during collective bargaining, as well as disputes resulting from the interpretation or application of existing collective bargaining agreements. NMB is headed by a three-member board, with each member appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a term of 3 years. No more than two members of the board can be from the same political party. In August 2013, a third board member was confirmed by the Senate, filling a board position that had been vacant since June 2012. The board members typically designate a chairman annually. The board members provide overall leadership and strategic direction for NMB, and retain responsibility for key functions such as releasing the parties from the mediation of major disputes if no agreement can be reached. The board has delegated day-to-day administration and oversight to NMB’s Chief of Staff and General Counsel (see fig. 1). As of August 2013, NMB had 49 employees, including the 3 board members. NMB also contracts with approximately 430 arbitrators. In fiscal year 2013, NMB had an operating budget of $12.7 million. NMB has sole jurisdiction to certify employee unions in the rail and air industries. Under the RLA, employees have a right to select a union free from influence, interference, or coercion from their employer. Eligible employees in a craft or class at a given carrier—those who perform the same duties and functions, such as locomotive engineers or pilots— select a union representative on a systemwide basis. For example, the pilots at an airline must be represented by the same union regardless of where they are located geographically. Unions are selected through secret-ballot elections conducted by NMB. If there is a question concerning representation of a craft or class, NMB is charged with resolving the representation dispute through its Office of Legal Affairs. For an election to occur, at least 50 percent of the eligible employees in the craft or class must submit signed authorization cards indicating their interest in being represented by a union. An NMB investigator compares signatures on those cards to signature samples for all eligible voters in the craft or class provided by the carrier to assess their authenticity and determine if there is a sufficient percentage to hold an election. The investigator also addresses any challenges to the eligibility of individual voters. Votes are cast by phone or via the Internet, in an election overseen by NMB. If a union receives a majority of the votes, NMB certifies the union as the employee representative. Additionally, NMB protects against “interference, influence, or coercion by either party” during this process, and it can order a new election or shorten the time before another union may apply to represent the employees if it determines any of these have occurred. In 2010, NMB changed its rules for certifying a union. Previously, a union had to receive votes from a majority of all employees in a craft or class who were eligible to vote in order to be certified, or approved, as the employee representative. This meant that employees who did not vote were, in effect, counted as voting against union representation. Under the rule change, an employee who chooses not to vote is no longer counted because union representation is now determined by a majority of votes cast. Numerous stakeholders, including union and carrier groups and members of Congress, submitted comments for and against the change. In addition, one NMB board member at the time wrote a dissenting opinion in the proposed and final rules published in the Federal Register. Once a union has been certified to represent a group of employees, the carrier is required to negotiate with—and only with—that union in a process known as collective bargaining. When the parties cannot reach agreement on the terms of a new or revised collective bargaining agreement—such as working conditions or rates of pay—it is classified as a “major dispute.” Either party can apply for NMB’s mediation services to resolve their differences or NMB may impose mediation if it finds that resolving the dispute is in the public’s interest. In general, mediation is a process through which disputing parties, with assistance from a neutral third party (known as a mediator), seek ways to settle their dispute. In fiscal year 2012, NMB provided mediation services in 144 cases, 46 of which were closed and 98 of which were pending at the end of that year. Mediation continues until the parties reach agreement or NMB determines that further mediation will not be effective and offers the parties the option of interest arbitration, in which case a neutral arbitrator would determine what provisions to include in the new or modified collective bargaining agreement. Either party may, however, refuse arbitration. If either party refuses, a 30-day cooling off period is triggered before the parties can exercise what is known as self help. Self help includes actions such as the union going on strike or the carrier denying employment or refusing to admit union employees onto the property in a lockout. To prevent this work stoppage, the President may create a Presidential Emergency Board to help settle the dispute. In fiscal year 2012, there was one Presidential Emergency Board created in a dispute involving the five largest U.S. railroads and numerous short-line and regional railroads. (See fig. 2 for a description of the process for resolving major disputes under the RLA.) In addition to mediation and arbitration, NMB provides voluntary alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, such as facilitation and training, to help unions and carriers learn to resolve disputes using less confrontational methods. The RLA also offers another type of arbitration—grievance arbitration—to help resolve “minor disputes.” As opposed to major disputes, which involve the establishment or modification of a collective bargaining agreement, minor disputes are disagreements over how to interpret and apply existing agreements. For example, an employee may file a grievance if he or she believes they were wrongfully fired or disciplined. If the carrier and employee cannot resolve their dispute, the RLA permits a party to refer the dispute to arbitration before an adjustment board created by the rail or air industry. The adjustment board consists of a carrier representative, a union representative, and a neutral arbitrator. In most instances, the neutral is selected by the two representatives. If they are unable to agree on an individual, they may request that NMB appoint a neutral. Grievances that the parties have been unable to resolve themselves are submitted to this board for resolution. In this capacity, the neutral is called upon to break a tie. Unlike major disputes, minor disputes cannot trigger self-help actions such as strikes or lockouts. NMB does not directly provide arbitration services through its own staff, but rather maintains a list of registered arbitrators from which the parties can select someone to review and decide their case. In the airline industry, the parties pay the costs of arbitration. In the railroad industry, however, consistent with the requirements of the RLA, NMB pays the fee (currently $300 per day) and travel expenses of the arbitrator. In fiscal year 2012, NMB’s arbitrators closed 3,869 rail grievance arbitration cases and 2,084 were pending at year’s end. In that year, NMB’s arbitration budget was $2 million, not including NMB staff salaries. NMB differs in several key ways from the other three labor relations agencies in the United States: the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS), and Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) (see table 1). OMB and OPM have key oversight responsibilities for all federal agencies, including NMB. Among other things, OMB is responsible for providing oversight of agencies’ management, including information technology and procurement. OMB is also responsible for preparing and implementing the President’s annual budget and for providing guidance to agencies on how to comply with the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRAMA). OPM is the central personnel management agency of the federal government charged with administering and enforcing federal civil service laws, regulations, and rules. OPM also maintains a personnel management oversight program to ensure that agencies comply with merit system principles and standards set by the office. As part of this program, OPM conducts audits of agencies’ human capital programs. In addition, OPM administers a survey of federal employees to measure employees’ perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions characterizing successful organizations are present in their agencies. In 1993, Congress passed GPRA, which established strategic planning, performance planning, and performance reporting as a framework for agencies to communicate progress in achieving their missions. GPRAMA, enacted in 2011, established some important changes to existing requirements by placing a heightened emphasis on priority-setting, cross- organizational collaboration to achieve shared goals, and the use and analysis of goals and measurements to improve outcomes. GPRAMA enhanced agency-level planning and reporting requirements and requires agencies to have additional leadership involvement and accountability. NMB lacks a robust strategic planning process, with formal mechanisms for gathering congressional and stakeholder input, and as a result, the agency has not met some federal requirements for performance planning.