Title 45RailroadsRelease 119-73

§151a General purposes

Title 45 › Chapter CHAPTER 8— - RAILWAY LABOR › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 151a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Keep commerce and carriers running without interruption. Protect workers’ right to join labor organizations and stop employers from denying or conditioning that right. Ensure carriers and employees can organize themselves independently. Require quick, orderly settlement of disputes about pay, rules, working conditions, grievances, and contract interpretation.

Full Legal Text

Title 45, §151a

Railroads — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The purposes of the chapter are: (1) To avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein; (2) to forbid any limitation upon freedom of association among employees or any denial, as a condition of employment or otherwise, of the right of employees to join a labor organization; (3) to provide for the complete independence of carriers and of employees in the matter of self-organization to carry out the purposes of this chapter; (4) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions; (5) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is comprised of the first sentence of section 2 of act
May 20, 1926, as added in the general amendment of section 2 by act
June 21, 1934. The remainder of section 2 of act
May 20, 1926, is classified to section 152 of this title.

Amendments

1934—Act
June 21, 1934, amended section 2 of act
May 20, 1926, generally, adding the text of this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

45 U.S.C. § 151a

Title 45Railroads

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73