§154 — Title 45 Railroads | U.S. Code

Summary

Creates the National Mediation Board as an independent agency in the executive branch. The Board has three members appointed by the President with Senate approval, and no more than two can be from the same political party. The old Board of Mediation was ended 30 days after June 21, 1934, and people then working there stayed on and were paid for those 30 days. Any cases that were still open on June 21, 1934 must be finished by the new Board. Members in office on January 1, 1965 are treated as having terms that end on July 1 of the year their term would have ended. Successors’ terms end three years after their predecessors’ terms end. A member who fills a vacancy only serves the leftover part of that term. If a seat is empty, the Board still can work. Two members make a quorum. Members keep working until their successor is appointed and qualifies. The President may remove a member only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, wrongdoing in office, or ineligibility. People who work for or have financial ties to employee organizations or carriers cannot be Board members. Members get travel pay or per diem when away from the Board’s main office on Board business. Each year the Board picks one member to be chairman. The main office is in the District of Columbia, but the Board can meet elsewhere. The Board can let one or more members act for it in mediation. Members can swear oaths. The Board has an official seal and must send Congress an annual report. It can hire experts and other staff under civil service rules and set their pay under federal pay laws. The Board may spend money for necessary costs (for example, rent, staff, books, printing, travel, and salaries) as allowed by Congress, and payments must have approved itemized vouchers. The Board can assign work to a member or employee and change those assignments by order. All officers and staff from the old Board (except the abolished members) transfer to the new Board with the same jobs and pay, though the Board may later adjust classifications or pay to fit their duties. Any unspent appropriations from the old Board transfer to the new Board for use.

Title 45, §154

Railroads — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

First. Board of Mediation abolished; National Mediation Board established; composition; term of office; qualifications; salaries; removal The Board of Mediation is abolished, effective thirty days from June 21, 1934, and the members, secretary, officers, assistants, employees, and agents thereof, in office upon June 21, 1934, shall continue to function and receive their salaries for a period of thirty days from such date in the same manner as though this chapter had not been passed. There is established, as an independent agency in the executive branch of the Government, a board to be known as the “National Mediation Board”, to be composed of three members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, not more than two of whom shall be of the same political party. Each member of the Mediation Board in office on January 1, 1965, shall be deemed to have been appointed for a term of office which shall expire on July 1 of the year his term would have otherwise expired. The terms of office of all successors shall expire three years after the expiration of the terms for which their predecessors were appointed; but any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of his predecessor. Vacancies in the Board shall not impair the powers nor affect the duties of the Board nor of the remaining members of the Board. Two of the members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the Board. Each member of the Board shall receive necessary traveling and subsistence expenses, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, subject to the provisions of law applicable thereto, while away from the principal office of the Board on business required by this chapter. No person in the employment of or who is pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of employees or any carrier shall enter upon the duties of or continue to be a member of the Board. Upon the expiration of his term of office a member shall continue to serve until his successor is appointed and shall have qualified. All cases referred to the Board of Mediation and unsettled on June 21, 1934, shall be handled to conclusion by the Mediation Board. A member of the Board may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, or ineligibility, but for no other cause. Second. Chairman; principal office; delegation of powers; oaths; seal; report The Mediation Board shall annually designate a member to act as chairman. The Board shall maintain its principal office in the District of Columbia, but it may meet at any other place whenever it deems it necessary so to do. The Board may designate one or more of its members to exercise the functions of the Board in mediation proceedings. Each member of the Board shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. The Board shall have a seal which shall be judicially noticed. The Board shall make an annual report to Congress. Third. Appointment of experts and other employees; salaries of employees; expenditures The Mediation Board may (1) subject to the provisions of the civil service laws, appoint such experts and assistants to act in a confidential capacity and such other officers and employees as are essential to the effective transaction of the work of the Board; (2) in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, fix the salaries of such experts, assistants, officers, and employees; and (3) make such expenditures (including expenditures for rent and personal services at the seat of government and elsewhere, for law books, periodicals, and books of reference, and for printing and binding, and including expenditures for salaries and compensation, necessary traveling expenses and expenses actually incurred for subsistence, and other necessary expenses of the Mediation Board, Adjustment Board, Regional Adjustment Boards established under paragraph (w) of section 153 of this title, and boards of arbitration, in accordance with the provisions of this section and section 153 and 157 of this title, respectively), as may be necessary for the execution of the functions vested in the Board, in the Adjustment Board and in the boards of arbitration, and as may be provided for by the Congress from time to time. All expenditures of the Board shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman. Fourth. Delegation of powers and duties The Mediation Board is authorized by its order to assign, or refer, any portion of its work, business, or functions arising under this chapter or any other Act of Congress, or referred to it by Congress or either branch thereof, to an individual member of the Board or to an employee or employees of the Board to be designated by such order for action thereon, and by its order at any time to amend, modify, supplement, or rescind any such assignment or reference. All such orders shall take effect forthwith and remain in effect until otherwise ordered by the Board. In conformity with and subject to the order or orders of the Mediation Board in the premises, [and] such individual member of the Board or employee designated shall have power and authority to act as to any of said work, business, or functions so assigned or referred to him for action by the Board. Fifth. Transfer of officers and employees of Board of Mediation; transfer of appropriation All officers and employees of the Board of Mediation (except the members thereof, whose offices are abolished) whose services in the judgment of the Mediation Board are necessary to the efficient operation of the Board are transferred to the Board, without change in classification or compensation; except that the Board may provide for the adjustment of such classification or compensation to conform to the duties to which such officers and employees may be assigned. All unexpended appropriations for the operation of the Board of Mediation that are available at the time of the abolition of the Board of Mediation shall be transferred to the Mediation Board and shall be available for its use for salaries and other authorized expenditures.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification In par. First, provisions that prescribed the basis compensation of members of the Board were omitted to conform to the provisions of the Executive Schedule. See section 5314 and 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. In par. Third, “subject to the provisions of the civil service laws, appoint such experts and assistants to act in a confidential capacity and such other officers and employees” substituted for “appoint such experts and assistants to act in a confidential capacity and, subject to the provisions of the civil-service laws, such other officers and employees”. All such appointments are now subject to the civil service laws unless specifically excepted by such laws or by laws enacted subsequent to Executive Order 8743, Apr. 23, 1941, issued by the President pursuant to the Act of Nov. 26, 1940, ch. 919, title I, § 1, 54 Stat. 1211, which covered most excepted positions into the classified (competitive) civil service. The Order is set out as a note under section 3301 of Title 5. In par. Third, “chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5” substituted for “the Classification Act of 1949, as amended” on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5.

Amendments

1964—Par. First. Pub. L. 88–542 inserted sentences providing that each member of the Board in office on Jan. 1, 1965, shall be deemed to have been appointed for a term of office which shall expire on July 1 of the year his term would have otherwise expired, and that upon the expiration of his term of office a member shall continue to serve until his successor is appointed and shall have qualified, and struck out provisions which related to terms of office of members first appointed. 1949—Par. First. Act Oct. 15, 1949, increased basic rate of compensation for members of the board to $15,000 per year. Par. Third. Act Oct. 28, 1949, substituted “Classification Act of 1949” for “Classification Act of 1923”. 1934—Act June 21, 1934, amended section generally.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Repeals

Act Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782, cited as a credit to this section, was repealed (subject to a savings clause) by Pub. L. 89–554, Sept. 6, 1966, § 8, 80 Stat. 632, 655. Termination of Reporting RequirementsFor termination, effective May 15, 2000, of provisions in par. Second relating to the requirement that the Board make an annual report to Congress, see section 3003 of Pub. L. 104–66, as amended, set out as a note under section 1113 of Title 31, Money and Finance, and the 6th item on page 184 of House Document No. 103–7.

§154 National Mediation Board