Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was a federation of
rail transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
labor unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It was founded in 1926 with the purpose of acting as a legislative lobbying and policy advisory body.
[Galenson, 1960, p. 570.][Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1972, p. 4.] At times, it played a prominent role in setting rail transport policy in the U.S., and was party to six
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
cases. It disbanded in January 1997, with representation, collective bargaining, and legislative lobbying assumed by the newly formed Rail Division of the
AFL–CIO Transportation Trades Department.
["BLE Leads Way Into 'National Movement' as RLEA Disbands and AFL-CIO Rail Division Begins." ''BLE News Flash''. January 20, 1997.]
The RLEA was distinct from the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (CRLO), a separate association organized in 1991 to serve as an oversight body for the health, welfare, and pension funds established under federal law for railway employees.
Early history
The Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was formed August 16–18, 1926, in Washington, D.C.
[Rand School of Social Science, 1927, p. 86.] The membership of the association was the president (or his or her representative) of each member union, and each union received a single vote in the organization's decision-making processes regardless of its size.
The president of the
Railway Employes' Department The Railway Employes' Department (RED) was a semi-autonomous department of the AFL–CIO.
History
The department was founded in 1908, as the Railroad Employes' Department, and was chartered by the American Federation of Labor in February 1909. In ...
, a division of the
American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
(AFL; and later the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
) was also a member and had a vote.
The organization was voluntary, which meant that no member was bound by its decisions.
However, members were required to submit (for informational purposes only) any federal legislative proposal which might significantly impact the other RLEA member unions.
The organization's first chairman (also sometimes called its president) was David B. Robertson of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen.
In 1932, Robertson stepped down to devote more time to his union, and
Alexander F. Whitney, President of the
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen
The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT) was a labor organization for railroad employees founded in 1883. Originally called the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen, its purpose was to negotiate contracts with railroad management and to provide in ...
, was elected his successor.
["Robertson Quits Labor Post." ''New York Times''. September 1, 1932.]
Even though the RLEA did not
bargain collectively itself, it played a major role in labor negotiations throughout the 1930s. During the decade, the association had about 21 institutional union members.
[Latham, 1959, p. 45.] Its chief counsel was
Donald Richberg
Donald Randall Richberg (July 10, 1881 - November 27, 1960)Ingham, John N. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders.'' Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1983. Purvis, Thomas L., ed. ''A Dictionary of American History.'' I ...
, a noted attorney who helped write the
Railway Labor Act
The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law on US labor law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, enacted in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration, and media ...
of 1926.
[Latham, 1959, p. 45.] In 1932, it acted as a coordinating body for unions engaged in national
master contract negotiations, and helped the unions stave off major cuts.
[Galenson, 1960, p. 571.] Over the next several years, it continued to coordinate collective bargaining strategy, and by 1935 the unions had restored the wage cuts incurred in 1932.
No additional cuts were made throughout the remainder of the Great Depression.
In 1933, the RLEA secured an amendment to the
Emergency Railroad Transportation Act
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
(ERTA) of 1933 which required national railroads to limit layoffs due to consolidation.
When this amendment expired in June 1936, RLEA worked with its members to negotiate a five-year collective bargaining agreement (the so-called "Washington Job Protection Agreement") which inserted the ERTA labor provisions into the unions' contracts.
In 1940, these contracts clauses were enacted into law as part of the
Transportation Act of 1940.
From 1935 to 1940, George Harrison, President of the
Brotherhood of Railway Clerks
The Transportation Communications Union (TCU) is the successor to the union formerly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and includes within it many other organizations, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America and the Brother ...
, served as the RLEA's chairman.
["George Harrison, Union Head, Dies." ''New York Times''. December 3, 1968.]
The 1930s were also a time of legislative achievements for the association. The Railway Labor Executives' Association was the primary organization pushing for railroad retirement legislation, which was first enacted in 1934. In addition to the layoff provisions mentioned above, the Emergency Railroad Transportation Act of 1933 also contained provisions (again drafted by Richberg) which outlawed "
yellow dog contract
A yellow-dog contract (a yellow-dog clause of a contract, also known as an ironclad oath) is an agreement between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees, as a condition of employment, not to be a member of a labor union. In the ...
s" and guaranteed to railway workers the right to form unions.
War and post-war years
James A. Phillips, President of the
Order of Railway Conductors
The Order of Railway Conductors of America (ORC) was a labor union that represented train conductors in the United States. It has its origins in the Conductors Union founded in 1868. Later it extended membership to brakemen. In 1969 the ORC merg ...
, was elected chairman of the RLEA in 1940. He replaced George Harrison, who resigned.
["J.A. Phillips Chosen Chairman of Labor Executives." ''New York Times''. February 17, 1940.] During World War II, the RLEA argued that its members were losing significant amounts of pay due to war-time inflation, and nearly went out on
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
in the spring of 1942. But after negotiations with railroad management and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a National Railway Labor Panel was created in May 1942 to adjudicate labor disputes between the railways and their unions. RLEA members had three of the nine seats on the panel. Later in 1942, the federal
Office of Price Administration
The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...
created a labor policy advisory group on which a representative from the RLEA sat.
After the war, the RLEA played a role in implementation of the
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
. The
Economic Cooperation Administration
The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) was a U.S. government agency set up in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan. It reported to both the State Department and the Department of Commerce. The agency's first head was Paul G. Hoffman, a fo ...
wanted private groups to play a greater advisory role in the plan's implementation. The RLEA, along with the AFL and the
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...
(CIO), met with non-
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
leaders of European trade unions to create a Trade Union Advisory Committee that acted as a policy-making body on labor matters in Western Europe.
The RLEA also had a post-war role in international labor union federation politics. The
International Federation of Trade Unions
The International Federation of Trade Unions (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945. IFTU had its roots in the pre-war IFTU.
IFTU had close links to the Labo ...
(IFTU) had been formed in 1919 in the wake of World War I as a means of united European labor unions and providing them with a stronger voice in world affairs. The idea behind the international labor federation was that the unions would be able to play a stronger role in anti-war initiatives. Although national labor federations from around the world joined the IFTU, it was dominated by
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
-leaning federations in Europe. The AFL withdrew from the IFTU in 1929 due to the IFTU's left-leaning politics. The IFTU suffered from internal factionalization as trade unions from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
came close to dominating it during the 1930s. As Nazi Germany conquered most of Europe in the 1930s, the IFTU's membership plummeted. The IFTU survived as a link to underground trade union freedom-fighter movements during World War II, but dissolved in 1945. The
World Federation of Trade Unions
The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation of ...
(WFTU) was formed in 1945 to replace it. But the WFTU was divided over support for the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan's goal was to undercut Communist influence in Western Europe, but many Western European trade unions were Communist-led. As these unions left the WFTU, unions from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries came to dominate the WFTU. The AFL withdrew from the WFTU as well. The goal of the American government and the AFL did not change, however; both wanted to end communist dominance of international labor bodies. On February 27, 1947, the RLEA voted to affiliate with the
International Transport Workers' Federation
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership ...
(ITWF), an independent global federation of national transport workers' unions. The RLEA, with 1.2 million members, easily dominated the ITWF. In September 1947, the RLEA won a major battle within the ITWF when the ITWF executive committee declined to join the Soviet-dominated WFTU. The ITWF decision was a major victory for the AFL and the Truman administration, for it prevented the WFTU from creating a critical mass of union membership and claiming a
moral high ground The moral high ground, in ethical or political parlance, refers to the status of being respected for remaining moral, and adhering to and upholding a universally recognized standard of justice or goodness. In derogatory context, the term is often us ...
vis-a-vis the AFL. Just 18 months later, the AFL and other non-communist national Western trade union federations formed the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...
(ICFTU). Over time, the WFTU withered and the ICFTU was ascendant.
At the time the RLEA was formed, none of its member unions admitted
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s as members. In 1948, the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Founded in 1925, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railwa ...
hired attorney
Joseph L. Rauh Jr.
Joseph Louis Rauh Jr. (January 3, 1911 – September 3, 1992) was one of the United States' foremost civil rights and civil liberties lawyers. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian hono ...
to help it win disputes with RLEA members over which union had jurisdiction over various types of work on the railroads. As the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters won more of these disputes, the RLEA was put in a position of either accepting the African American union into its ranks or losing its economic clout vis-a-vis the railroads. To put even more pressure on the RLEA, Rauh filed a complaint with the
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...
alleging that the RLEA discriminated against African American workers (which was illegal under federal law). In 1950, the RLEA capitulated and accepted the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as a member union.
George E. Leighty, President of the
Order of Railroad Telegraphers
The Order of Railroad Telegraphers (ORT) was a United States labor union established in the late nineteenth century to promote the interests of telegraph operators working for the railroads.
Organizational history Background and early years
W ...
, was elected RLEA chairman in 1950, and remained president until 1960.
["Businesslike Unionist: George Earle Leighty." ''New York Times''. June 5, 1962.]
On December 16, 1950, the RLEA joined with the AFL, CIO,
International Association of Machinists
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada.
Or ...
to form the United Labor Policy Committee. The committee's goal was to monitor government policy-making to avoid what labor unions perceived was a pro-business policy bias in during World War II. During the economic crisis which occurred during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, the United Labor Policy Committee oversaw the labor representatives on the
Wage Stabilization Board (WSB), which regulated wages in the defense industry in the United States. During the buildup to the
1952 steel strike, the WSB imposed nationwide wage controls on January 26, 1951. Labor representatives on the board, who opposed wholesale wage controls, were outvoted nine to three.
[Loftus, Joseph A. "Wage Board Votes 10% Rise Formula." ''New York Times''. February 14, 1951.] On February 16, the Wage Stabilization Board issued Wage Regulation 6 which permitted a 10 percent increase in wages for those workers who had not negotiated a wage increase in the last six months. The regulation was based on the "Little Steel formula" of World War II. At the instruction of the RLEA and other members of the United Labor Policy Committee, the labor representatives on the WSB resigned in protest. Unwilling to alienate labor by imposing wage controls involuntarily, President Truman reconstituted the WSB with a greatly enlarged membership and powers and new authority to report directly to the president.
Late 20th century
The RLEA's importance in national labor affairs fell along with the significant decline of the railway industry in the national economy. The organization was also roiled by internal dissent and disaffiliations. In the late 1940s, the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year lat ...
, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and the Order of Railway Conductors all quit the organization in disputes over various issues in
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...
and political action. In 1950, the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (B of LF&E) was a North American railroad fraternal benefit society and trade union in the 19th and 20th centuries. The organization began in 1873 as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (B of L ...
disaffiliated from the RLEA, and did not rejoin it until December 1954. By the mid-1950s, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers had rejoined the RLEA, but disaffiliated again in November 1964.
["Engineers Leave Rail Labor Group." Associated Press. November 7, 1964.] Just two months later, the International Association of Machinists quit as well.
Faced with rapidly declining membership and severe financial difficulties in the rail industry, the RLEA abandoned its 45-year-old policy opposing public ownership of rail transport companies. Government ownership of the railroads, the RLEA now said, was the only way to ensure that they would continue to exist.
[Pomfret, John D. "Union Men Urge U.S. Operate Rails." ''New York Times''. January 17, 1965.] The RLEA's policy change helped lead to the creation of
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
in 1971 and
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
in 1976.
But membership changes continued to roil the RLEA. In 1969, the
United Transportation Union
The United Transportation Union (UTU) was a broad-based, transportation labor union that represented about 70,000 active and retired railroad, bus, mass transit, and airline workers in the United States. The UTU was headquartered in Cleveland, Oh ...
(formerly the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen), the
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) – later to become the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED) – is a national union representing the workers who build and ...
, the
Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks
The Transportation Communications Union (TCU) is the successor to the union formerly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and includes within it many other organizations, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America and the Brother ...
, the
Hotel and Restaurant Employes Union, and the
Seafarers International Union
The Seafarers International Union or SIU is an organization of 12 autonomous labor unions of mariners, fishermen and boatmen working aboard vessels flagged in the United States or Canada. Michael Sacco has been its president since 1988. The orga ...
all disaffiliated from the RLEA and form the Congress of Railway Unions. The Congress of Railway Unions had the same purpose as the RLEA, but generally attempted to be a leaner organization and pursued different policy and collective bargaining goals.
In 1972, the RLEA had 20 member unions, including nine railway unions and 11 with other unions with small numbers of members working for railways or which were not affiliated with the AFL–CIO.
Three years later, the Congress of Railway Unions dissolved and its member unions rejoined the RLEA. But the decline of the railroads left the RLEA's member unions with fewer and fewer members. The AFL-CIO disbanded its Railway Employes Department in October 1980.
The RLEA began pursuing new tactics as a way of enhancing its collective bargaining and legislative power. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the RLEA sought to purchase a
Class I or
Class II railroad
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
as a means of gaining entry into the decision-making bodies of the railroad industry and being taken seriously as a railroad industry player in Congress. In 1983, the RLEA made an offer to buy Conrail from the U.S. government. The RLEA said it represented 36,000 Conrail workers who were members of 16 Conrail unions, and by July 1983 the RLEA's offer was the only one for the railroad. The RLEA bid for Conrail generated intense public debate and discussion, even as other bidders for the railroad emerged. In June 1984, as the bidding wore on, the value of the RLEA's bid was revealed to be $2 billion. But in September 1983, the list of potential buyers was reduced to three, and the RLEA was not a finalist for the purchase of the railroad.
The failure to purchase Conrail did not discourage the RLEA. In 1987, it made a bid for the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
. The RLEA bid $750 million for the railroad. But once again, the labor federation was unsuccessful.
Rio Grande Industries
Rio Grande Industries (RGI or Rio Grande Industries, Inc.) was a name of two holding companies that were involved in the railroading industry. The original and second company took part in the operations of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Ra ...
, which owned the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...
, won the bidding. A year later, the RLEA made an unsuccessful $59 million bid for the
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio in the H ...
, a
Class III railroad
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
. In 1989, it made an unsuccessful bid worth more than $658 million for the Class I
Chicago and North Western System.
A nationwide rail strike occurred in April 1991. But Congress invoked the provisions of the
Railway Labor Act
The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law on US labor law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, enacted in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration, and media ...
and less than 24 hours into the strike passed legislation shutting the strike down. The handling of the strike led to widespread unrest among union members. Richard Kilroy, president of the RLEA and president of the
Transportation Communications International Union
The Transportation Communications Union (TCU) is the successor to the union formerly known as the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and includes within it many other organizations, including the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America and the Brother ...
(formerly the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks) was defeated for re-election by Robert A. Scardelletti in mid-August 1991. Scardelletti immediately withdrew his union from membership in the RLEA.
[Kaufman, Lawrence H. "Communications Union Quits Rail Labor Executives Group." ''Journal of Commerce''. August 19, 1991.] Kilroy was forced to step down as RLEA president due to his election loss, and Edward P. McEntee, President of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a labor union that represents approximately 775,000 workers and retirees in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands; ...
, was elected the organization's new president.
["Rail Labor Executives Elect New Officers." ''Journal of Commerce''. September 11, 1991.] Less than a month later, Fred Hardin, President of the United Transportation Union (UTU; which had been ejected by the RLEA in 1989 for r
aiding other unions for membership) was defeated for re-election by G. Thomas DuBose. DuBose led the UTU to rejoin the RLEA in April 1992.
RLEA won a major court victory in 1994, however. By that year, the RLEA represented 12 railway labor unions, but just 232,000 railroad employees.
[Watson, Rip. "Rail Unions Are Angry Over Grievance Move." ''Journal of Commerce''. April 16, 1993.] The Railway Labor Act (as amended) established the
National Mediation Board
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries.
History
The board was established by the 1934 amendments to ...
(NMB) to adjudicate collective bargaining disputes between unions and employers in the railroad industry. But in 1989, the NMB claimed authority over inter-union jurisdictional disputes as well, and began using this authority to reduce the number of unions each railroad was forced to deal with. One behalf of its member unions, the RLEA sued. In ''Railway Labor Executives' Association v. National Mediation Board'', 29 F.3d 655 (1994, ''amend'd'' July 20, 1994), Judge
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...
, writing for a 2-to-1 majority of the
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, concluded that the NMB did have the legal authority to adjudicate jurisdictional disputes.
The court victory did little to quell internal dissent in the RLEA. In May 1994, the UTU disaffiliated yet again. The RLEA still represented the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, the American Train Dispatchers unit of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers,
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) is a labor union in the United States. It represents workers who install, maintain, and repair railroad traffic control systems. These include switching, signaling, and highway-rail crossing warning sy ...
, the
Sheet Metal Workers International Association
The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association was a trade union of skilled metal workers who perform architectural sheet metal work, fabricate and install heating and air conditioning work, shipbuilding, appliance construction, heater and bo ...
, the
United Association
The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the United Association (UA), is a labor union which represents workers in the plumbing and pipefitt ...
(which represented boilermakers), the
International Association of Fire Fighters, and
UNITE HERE
UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 by ...
(representing railroad restaurant employees).
The RLEA disbanded in January 1997, with representation, collective bargaining, and legislative lobbying assumed by the newly formed Rail Division of the
AFL–CIO Transportation Trades Department.
Court cases
The Railway Labor Executives' Association has been party to six cases which were decided by the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
. These are:
* ''
ICC v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn.'', 315 U.S. 373 (1942) – The Supreme Court upheld the RLEA's claim that the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
(ICC) had the authority to impose conditions to benefit of employees who are harmed by a railroad's abandonment of track.
* ''
Railway Labor Executives' Association v. United States
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
'', 379 U.S. 199 (1964) – The
Southern Railway had acquired the
Central of Georgia Railway
The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was cons ...
, and the RLEA argued that the ICC had failed to protect employee rights in approving the takeover. The Supreme Court held that the ICC's order was unclear, and remanded the case for further proceedings at the ICC.
* ''
Railway Labor Executives' Association v. Gibbons'', 455 U.S. 457 (1982) – The
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.
At the end ...
was in bankruptcy, and had petitioned for liquidation. On May 31, 1980, the President of the United States signed Public Law 96-254 (94 Stat. 399, 45 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), which required the railroad to make payments to its employees under existing collective bargaining agreements. Two days later, a federal district court authorized the liquidation of the railroad, which would have triggered the legislation. The Supreme Court held that postponing the liquidation created an undue burden on the railroad, and allowed the liquidation to go forward without the provisions of P.L. 96-254.
* ''
Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives Association
''Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives Association'', 489 U.S. 602 (1989), was the U.S. Supreme Court case that paved the way for random drug testing of public employees in "safety sensitive" positions.
Background
In the mid-1980s, the Federal Rail ...
'', 489 US 602 (1989) – The Supreme Court held against the RLEA, and said that random drug testing is permissible for employees in safety sensitive positions.
* ''
Consolidated Rail Corporation v. Railway Labor Executives' Association'', 491 U.S. 299 (1989) – Conrail sought to institute drug testing for all its employees. The RLEA asked that the Adjustment Board of the NMB adjudicate the matter, but Conrail said the dispute did not fall under the RLA's jurisdiction. The Supreme Court said it did.
* ''
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Company v. Railway Labor Executives' Association'', 491 U.S. 490 (1989) – The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad sold its assets to
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
and refused to bargain with the RLEA's member unions over the sale. The Supreme Court held that there was a duty to bargain (but not over the sale itself), but that this duty to bargain ended when the sale was complete. Lower courts had enjoined the union from striking, but the Supreme Court said it was unclear if there were grounds to do so. It remanded the strike issue back to the lower courts.
List of presidents
The following is an incomplete list of the presidents of the RLEA.
* David B. Robertson, 1926–1932
*
Alexander F. Whitney, 1932–1935
*
George McGregor Harrison
George McGregor Harrison (July 19, 1895 – November 30, 1968) was an American leader of organized labor who built the Brotherhood of Railway & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes into one of the "largest and best-go ...
, 1935–1940
* James A. Phillips, 1940–1941(?)
*
George McGregor Harrison
George McGregor Harrison (July 19, 1895 – November 30, 1968) was an American leader of organized labor who built the Brotherhood of Railway & Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employes into one of the "largest and best-go ...
, 1941
* Thomas C. Cashen, 1942–1943
*
Harry W. Fraser, 1943
* Thomas C. Cashen, 1943–1945
*
Harry W. Fraser, 1947–1948
* George Earle Leighty, 1950–1969
* C. J. Chamberlain, 1970–1977
* John F. Peterpaul, 1977–1980
*
Fred J. Kroll, 1980–1981
* Frank A. Hardin, 1981–1984
* Ole Berge, 1984–1985
*
Richard I. Kilroy, 1986–1991
* Edward P. McEntee, 1991–1992
* Ron McLaughlin, 1993–1994?
* William D. "Dan" Pickett, 1996–1997
["Monin Elected to Help Lead Rail Labor." ''BLE News Flash''. October 2, 1996.]
Footnotes
Bibliography
*Anderson, Jervis. ''A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait''. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1986.
*Arnesen, Eric. ''Brotherhoods of Color: Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001.
*Bureau of Labor Statistics. ''Directory of National Unions and Employee Associations''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1972.
*Dubofsky, Warren and Van Tine, Warren. ''John L. Lewis: A Biography''. Reprint ed. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
*
Galenson, Walter. ''The CIO Challenge to the AFL: A History of the American Labor Movement, 1935-1941''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960.
*Hidy, Ralph W. ''The Great Northern Railway: A History''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
*Hogan, Michael J. ''The Marshall Plan: America, Britain, and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
*Latham, Earl. ''The Politics of Railroad Coordination, 1933-1936''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959.
*Lichtenstein, Nelson. ''Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II''. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 2003.
*Marcus, Maeva. ''Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
*Parish, Michael E. ''Citizen Rauh: An American Liberal's Life in Law and Politics''. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 2010.
*Rand School of Social Science. ''The American Labor Year Book''. New York: Rand School of Social Science, 1927.
*
Rayback, Joseph. ''A History of American Labor''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966.
*Wilson, Carter A. ''Racism: From Slavery to Advanced Capitalism''. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1996.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Railway Labor Executives' Association
National trade union centers of the United States
History of labor relations in the United States
Trade unions established in 1926
American Federation of Labor
Railway unions in the United States