§905 Employee or employee-shipper ownership plan

Summary

A group made up of national railway labor groups, employee coalitions, and shippers may, by December 1, 1979, submit one plan to the Commission to turn all or most of the Milwaukee Railroad into an employee-owned or employee-and-shipper-owned company. The plan must show how to do this and include a full evaluation of whether the railroad can support itself financially. The Commission has 30 days to approve the plan if it finds it workable. To be workable the plan must show there is enough public and private money, be fair to the railroad’s bankruptcy estate, be able to be put into effect by April 1, 1980, allow the railroad to run on a self-sustaining basis, and include a review of operations plus labor-management agreements to boost productivity while keeping safe, adequate service. If the Commission says the plan is workable, it must send that decision to the bankruptcy court. The court has 10 days after that to hold a hearing and decide if the plan is fair to the railroad’s estate. The Commission’s finding can be overturned only with clear and convincing evidence. If both the Commission and the court approve, the plan must be carried out by April 1, 1980. The railroad’s trustee must give the plan developers recent physical reports and traffic, revenue, marketing, and other data needed to set an acquisition cost. That information can only be used to make the plan and cannot be shared with competitors or, except as needed for the plan, with customers.