Title 45, RailroadsRelease 119-102

§160 Emergency Board

Title 45 › CHAPTER 8 — RAILWAY LABOR › SUBCHAPTER I — GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 160

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

If the Mediation Board thinks a dispute between a carrier and its workers could seriously disrupt interstate commerce and cut off needed transportation for any area, it must tell the President. The President may then set up a temporary board to investigate and report. He chooses how many people sit on the board and sets their pay, but members cannot have financial or other ties to carriers or employee groups. Money may be provided to pay the board’s wages, travel, and meal costs, and bills must be itemized and approved. The parties may not change the conditions that started the dispute while the board exists and for 30 days after the board’s report, unless both sides agree.

Full Legal Text

Title 45, §160

Railroads, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

If a dispute between a carrier and its employees be not adjusted under the foregoing provisions of this chapter and should, in the judgment of the Mediation Board, threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service, the Mediation Board shall notify the President, who may thereupon, in his discretion, create a board to investigate and report respecting such dispute. Such board shall be composed of such number of persons as to the President may seem desirable: Provided, however, That no member appointed shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of employees or any carrier. The compensation of the members of any such board shall be fixed by the President. Such board shall be created separately in each instance and it shall investigate promptly the facts as to the dispute and make a report thereon to the President within thirty days from the date of its creation. There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the expenses of such board, including the compensation and the necessary traveling expenses and expenses actually incurred for subsistence, of the members of the board. All expenditures of the board shall be allowed and paid on the presentation of itemized vouchers therefor approved by the chairman. After the creation of such board and for thirty days after such board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement, shall be made by the parties to the controversy in the conditions out of which the dispute arose.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1934—Act June 21, 1934, substituted “Mediation Board” for “Board of Mediation” wherever appearing.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

45 U.S.C. § 160

Title 45, Railroads

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102