V-a. (Source: Congress of the United States. In U.S. 49 Stats. 1921, ch. 166, 74th Cong. (1936)) THE 1936 AMENDMENTS TO THE RAILWAY LABOR ACT [CHAPTER 166.] AN ACT To amend the Railway Labor Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Railway Labor Act, approved May 20, 1926, as amended, herein referred to as "Title I", is hereby further amended by inserting after the enacting clause the caption "Title I" and by adding the following title II: "TITLE II Designated pro carriers by air. Board Adjustment provisions excluded. "SECTION 201. All of the provisions of title I of this Act, except the provisions of section 3 thereof, are extended to and shall cover every common carrier by air engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, and every carrier by air transporting mail for or under contract with the United States Government, and every air pilot or other person who performs any work as an employee or subordinate official of such carrier or carriers, subject to its or their continuing authority to supervise and direct the manner of rendition of his service. "SEC. 202. The duties, requirements, penalties, benefits, and privi- Application of Act to leges prescribed and established by the provisions of title I of this employees. Act, except section 3 thereof, shall apply to said carriers by air and their employees in the same manner and to the same extent as though such carriers and their employees were specifically included within the definition of 'carrier' and 'employee', respectively, in section 1 thereof. carriers by air and National Mediation Board. Adjustment of dis "SEC. 203. The parties or either party to a dispute between an employee or a group of employees and a carrier or carriers by air may invoke the services of the National Mediation Board and putes. the jurisdiction of said Mediation Board is extended to any of the following cases: "(a) A dispute concerning changes in rates of pay, rules, or working conditions not adjusted by the parties in conference. "(b) Any other dispute not referable to an adjustment board, as hereinafter provided, and not adjusted in conference between the parties, or where conferences are refused. "The National Mediation Board may proffer its services in case any labor emergency is found by it to exist at any time. "The services of the Mediation Board may be invoked in a case under this title in the same manner and to the same extent as are the disputes covered by section 5 of title I of this Act. Pay, working conditions, etc. Other disputes. Proffer of services in emergency. Invoking of Board's Bervices. Vol. 48, p. 1195. Handling employeremployee disputes. "SEC. 204. The disputes between an employee or group of employees and a carrier or carriers by air growing out of grievances, or out of the interpretation or application of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, including cases pending and unadjusted on the date of approval of this Act before the National Labor Relations Board, shall be handled in the usual manner up to and including the chief operating officer of the carrier designated to handle such disputes; but, failing to reach an adjustment in this manner, the disputes may be referred by petition of ure to agree. the parties or by either party to an appropriate adjustment board, as hereinafter provided, with a full statement of the facts and supporting data bearing upon the disputes. Reference to adjustment board upon fail ment; establishment; "It shall be the duty of every carrier and of its employees, acting Boards of adjust. through their representatives, selected in accordance with the pro- Jurisdiction. visions of this title, to establish a board of adjustment of jurisdiction not exceeding the jurisdiction which may be lawfully exercised by system, group, or regional boards of adjustment, under the authority Vol. 48, p. 1189. of section 3, Title I, of this Act. Employee-carrier boards of adjustment. National Air Transport Adjustment Board. Composition. tion, etc. "Such boards of adjustment may be established by agreement between employees and carriers either on any individual carrier, or system, or group of carriers by air and any class or classes of its or their employces; or pending the establishment of a permanent National Board of Adjustment as hereinafter provided. Nothing in this Act shall prevent said carriers by air, or any class or classes of their employees, both acting through their representatives selected in accordance with provisions of this title, from mutually agreeing to the establishment of a National Board of Adjustment of temporary duration and of similarly limited jurisdiction. "SEC. 205. When, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, it shall be necessary to have a permanent national board of adjustment in order to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of disputes between said carriers by air, or any of them, and its or their employees, growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements between said carriers by air or any of them, and any class or classes of its or their employees, covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, the National Mediation Board is hereby empowered and directed, by its order duly made, published, and served, to direct the said carriers by air and such labor organizations of their employees, national in scope, as have been or may be recognized in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to select and designate four representatives who shall constitute a board which shall be known as the 'National Air Transport Adjustment Board.' Two members of said National Air Transport Adjustment Board shall be selected by said carriers by air and two members by the said labor organizations of the employees, within thirty days after the date of the order of the National Mediation Board, in the manner and by the procedure prescribed by title I of this Act for the selection and designation of members of the Meeting, organiza- National Railroad Adjustment Board. The National Air Transport Adjustment Board shall meet within forty days after the date of the order of the National Mediation Board directing the selection and designation of its members and shall organize and adopt rules for conducting its proceedings, in the manner prescribed in section 3 Filling vacancies, etc. of title I of this Act. Vacancies in membership or office shall be filled, members shall be appointed in case of failure of the carriers or of labor organizations of the employees to select and designate representatives, members of the National Air Transport Adjustment Board shall be compensated, hearings shall be held, findings and awards made, stated, served, and enforced, and the number and compensation of any necessary assistants shall be determined and the compensation of such employees shall be paid, all in the same manner and to the same extent as provided with reference to the National Railroad Adjustment Board by section 3 of title I of this Act. The powers and duties prescribed and established by the provisions of section 3 of title I of this Act with reference to the National Railroad Adjustment Board and the several divisions thereof are hereby conferred upon and shall be exercised and performed in like manner and to the same extent by the said National Air Transport Adjustment Board, not exceeding, however, the jurisdiction conferred upon said National Air Transport Adjustment Board by the provisions of this title. From and after the organization of the National Air Transport Adjustment Board, if any system, group, or regional board of adjustment established by any carrier or carriers by air and any class or classes of its or their employees is not satisfactory to either party thereto, the said party, upon ninety days' notice to the other party, may elect to come under the jurisdiction of the National Air Transport Adjustment Board. Powers conferred. Election by om come under jurisdiction ployee-carrier boards to of. cases to Mediation "SEC. 206. All cases referred to the National Labor Relations Transfer of pending Board, or over which the National Labor Relations Board shall Board. have taken jurisdiction, involving any dispute arising from any cause between any common carrier by air engaged in interstate or foreign commerce or any carrier by air transporting mail for or under contract with the United States Government, and employees of such carrier or carriers, and unsettled on the date of approval of this Act, shall be handled to conclusion by the Mediation Board. The books, records, and papers of the National Labor Relations Board and of the National Labor Board pertinent to such case or cases, whether settled or unsettled, shall be transferred to the custody of the National Mediation Board. "SEC. 207. If any provision of this title or application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. "SEC. 208. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for expenditure by the Mediation Board in carrying out the provisions of this Act." Approved, April 10, 1936. Custody of papers, records, etc. Separability provi sion. Appropriation authorized. V-b. (Source: Charles M. Mason. In The Structure of Collective Bargaining. New York, N.Y. The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc., 1961, pp. 217-247) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STRUCTURE: THE AIRLINES EXPERIENCE By Charles M. Mason* THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STRUCTURE of the airline industry is in large measure a product of the nature of the industry itself. The industry is characterized, by, among other things: (1) Intensive and detailed government regulation of every facet of its operation, including how the product (transportation) will be produced, where it will be sold (routes to be flown) and its price (tariffs), as well as its labor relations. The extent of government regulation reflects the fact that the airlines are common carriers and are vested with a public interest. (2) Around-the-clock-operation 7 days a week, 365 days a year. (3) Fierce competition between carriers. (4) An extremely perishable product with no inventory to maintain the business if a strike occurs. (5) Operations that are tightly integrated and extend over a relatively large geographical area of the nation. (6) A work force with a higher percentage of highly skilled, highly educated, and federally licensed employees than industry as a whole. (7) The necessity for great capital investments in aircraft, facilities, and material. (8) Constant and rapid technological change. I will try to report the facts in the development of the present collective bargaining structure in order to provide the reader a basis for analysis of this structure. Inc. Charles M. Mason is Vice-President, Employee Relations, United Air Lines, |