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1 1 (November 21, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejlt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ Research Service Rail Labor Dispute Could Result in Work Stoppages Updated November 21, 2022 On August 16, 2022, a three-person Emergency Board appointed in July by President Biden issued its recommendations to resolve a labor dispute affecting over 100,000 employees of six major railroads and many smaller ones. The two sides reached a tentative agreement on September 15, averting a strike that could have begun the following day, but the agreement requires ratification by union members. Depending on what actions the railroads, unions, and Congress take, the dispute could lead to work stoppages as early as December 4. Negotiations have occurred against a backdrop of declining railroad employment, a trend that began well in advance of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Since November 2018, railroad employment has shrunk by some 40,000 jobs, or by over 20%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some of these job losses can be attributed to the decline in the transportation of coal, while others may have been due to new approaches to staffing and asset use within the rail industry. Overview of Rail Labor Law Labor disputes in the railway and airline industries are governed by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which created the National Mediation Board (NMB) to facilitate negotiations. If a dispute is not settled through RLA-prescribed negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and if the NMB determines that the dispute threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service, the law authorizes the President to establish an Emergency Board to investigate and issue a report. The Presidential Emergency Board's recommendations are not binding on the parties, and either party may reject them. The current negotiations began in November 2019 between a coalition of labor unions and several railroads. After more than two years of bargaining, the unions requested the assistance of the NMB in January 2022. On June 17, the NMB announced that both sides would exit mediation without a new contract in place. Since then, a Presidential Emergency Board was appointed and the parties have been in a series of federally mandated cooling-off' periods during which no action may be taken that would result in a work stoppage. The current cooling-off period will expire if union members vote to reject a new agreement, though it may be voluntarily extended. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11966 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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