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SEC. 8. No restraining order or injunctive relief shall be granted to any complainant who has failed to comply with any obligation imposed by law which is involved in the labor dispute in question, or who has failed to make every reasonable effort to settle such dispute either by negotiation or with the aid of any available governmental machinery of mediation or voluntary arbitration.

SEC. 9. No restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction shall be granted in a case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, except on the basis of findings of fact made and filed by the court in the record of the case prior to the issuance of such restraining order or injunction; and every restraining order or injunction granted in a case involving or growing out of a labor dispute shall include only a prohibition of such specific act or acts as may be expressly complained of in the bill of complaint or petition filed in such case and as shall be expressly included in said findings of fact made and filed by the court as provided herein.

SEC. 10. Whenever any court of the United States shall issue or deny any temporary injunction in a case involving or growing out of a labor dispute, the court shall, upon the request of any party to the proceedings and on his filing the usual bond for costs, forthwith certify as in ordinary cases the record of the case to the court of appeals for its review. Upon the filing of such record in the circuit court of appeals, the appeal shall be heard and the temporary injunctive order affirmed, modified, or set aside with the greatest possible expedition, giving the proceedings precedence over all other matters except older matters of the same character.

SEC. 11*. In all cases arising under this Act in which a person shall be charged with contempt in a court of the United States (as herein defined), the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the contempt shall have been committed: Provided, That this right shall not apply to contempts committed in the presence of the court or so near thereto as to interfere directly with the administration of justice or to apply to the misbehavior, misconduct, or disobedience of any officer of the court in respect to the writs, orders, or process of the court.

SEC. 12. The defendant in any proceeding for contempt of court may file with the court a demand for the retirement of the judge sitting in the proceeding, if the contempt arises from an attack upon the character or conduct or such judge and if the attack occurred elsewhere than in the presence of the court or so near thereto as to interfere directly with the administration of justice. Upon the filing of any such demand the judge shall thereupon proceed no further, but another judge shall be designated in the same manner as is provided by law. The demand shall be filed prior to the hearing in the contempt proceeding. SEC. 13. When used in this Act, and for the purposes of this Act

(a) A case shall be held to involve or to grow out of a labor dispute when the case involves persons who are engaged in the same industry, craft, or occupation; or have direct or indirect interests therein; or who are employees of the same employer; or who are members of the same or an affiliated organization of em

*Sections 11 and 12 were repealed by the Act of June 25, 1948, ch. 645, § 21, 62 Stat. 862, effective Sept. 1, 1948.

ployers or employees; whether such dispute is (1) between one or more employers or associations of employers and one or more employees or associations of employees; (2) between one or more employers or associations of employers and one or more employers or associations of employers; or (3) between one or more employees or associations of employees and one or more employees or associations of employees; or when the case involves any conflicting or competing interests in a "labor dispute" (as hereinafter defined), of "persons participating or interested" therein (as hereinafter defined).

(b) A person or association shall be held to be a person participating or interested in a labor dispute if relief is sought against him or it, and if he or it is engaged in the same industry, trade, craft, or occupation in which such dispute occurs, or has a direct or indirect interest therein, or is a member, officer, or agent of any association composed in whole or in part of employers or employees engaged in such industry, trade, craft, or occupation.

(c) The term "labor dispute" includes any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment, regardless of whether or not the disputants stand in the proximate relation of employer and employee.

(d) The term "court of the United States" means any court of the United States whose jurisdiction has been or may be conferred or defined or limited by Act of Congress, including the courts of the District of Columbia.

SEC. 14. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the remaining provisions of the Act and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected therof.

SEC. 15. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

THE RAILWAY LABOR ACT

44 Stat. 577 (1926), as amended by 48 Stat. 1185 (1934), 49 Stat. 1185 (1936), 54 Stat. 785, 786 (1940), 64 Stat. 1238 (1951), 78 Stat. 748 (1964), and 80 Stat. 208 (1966); 45 U.S.C. §§ 151-88; F.C.A. 45 §§ 151-88.

Summary and Description

The Railway Labor Act governs the labor relations of railroads and airlines and their employees. The act makes it the mutual duty of carriers and employees to make and maintain agreements, guarantees and provides for the exercise of labor's collective-bargaining rights, and prescribes methods for the settlement of various types of disputes.

The act applies to all railroads, express companies and sleeping-car companies engaged in interstate commerce and their subsidiaries (such as refrigerator car companies, bridge companies, and others engaged in transport, transfer, or storage services) and to airlines engaged in interstate and foreign commerce and transportation of mail. Two agencies administer the act:

The National Mediation Board in Washington, D.C., composed of three members appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, handles disputes concerning (1) designation of representatives for collective bargaining purposes, (2) negotiation of changes in rates of pay and new or revised collective bargaining agreements, and (3) interpretation of agreements reached through mediation.

The National Railroad Adjustment Board in Chicago, Ill., is composed of 34 members, 17 of whom represent and are paid by the carriers, and 17 by the national railway labor organizations. Unlike the National Mediation Board, it has jurisdiction only over railway carriers and employees. It makes final and binding decisions in disputes growing out of grievances or the application and interpretation of existing agreements.

RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES

Section 2 of the act states that: Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing. Section 2 (3), (4), and (5) of the act, outlined below, which protect this right, are made a part of every collective agreement.

In order to protect workers in exercising this right, carriers are forbidden to do any of the following acts:

a. To deny or question the right of their employees to organize or to interfere with their organization (sec. 2(4)).

b. To use funds of the carrier in maintaining any labor organization or to pay any employee representative (sec. 2(4)).

c. To influence employees to join or not to join any labor organization (sec. 2(4)).

d. To require employees to sign any agreement promising to join or not to join any labor organization (sec. 2(5)).

DETERMINATION OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING REPRESENTATIVES

Section 2(3) of the act states that collective bargaining representatives shall be designated by the respective parties without interference, influence, or coercion by either party over the designation of representatives by the other; and neither party shall in any way interfere with, influence, or coerce the other in its choice of representatives.

It is specifically provided that employee representatives for collective bargaining shall not be required to be employees of the employer. The act states that the majority of any craft or class of employees shall have the right to determine who shall be the representative of the class or craft (sec. 2(4)). While the Board has no power to establish crafts or classes of employees, it may designate who may participate in representation elections. Such determinations are usually made in the light of accepted practice in employee self-organization over a period of years.

Where any labor organization, committee, or employee representative asserts that a dispute exists concerning representation of employees for the purposes of the act, it is the duty of the National Mediation Board to investigate such a dispute and conduct an election by secret ballot or any other suitable method to determine who is the collective bargaining representative of the employees (sec. 2(9)). If a majority of the employees in a craft or class chooses an individual or a labor organization, the Board then issues a certification of that fact to the parties and the carrier.

The act was amended in 1951 to specifically provide (sec. 2(11)) that carriers and labor organizations may negotiate union shop and checkoff agreements.

Interference by carriers in the designation of employee representatives is a misdemeanor. Employees may also appeal to the Federal courts for an injunction to restrain the carrier from violating the

act.

DUTIES OF CARRIERS AND EMPLOYEES TO BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY

Section 2(1) states: It shall be the duty of all carriers, their officers, agents, and employees to exert every reasonable effort to make and maintain agreements concerning rates of pay, rules and working conditions, and to settle all disputes whether arising out of the application of such agreements or otherwise, in order to avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier growing out of any dispute between the carrier and the employees thereof.

Every carrier is required to file with the National Mediation Board a copy of every contract with its employees, as well as all changes when made.

PROCEDURE IN MAKING AND REVISING AGREEMENTS

The act provides for the following procedure in making and revising agreements:

a. Notice.-Carriers and employees alike are required to give at least 30 days' notice of any intended change in their collective bargaining agreements regarding rates of pay, rules, or working

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