The National Mediation Board (NMB), established by the 1934 amendments to the Railway Labor Act of 1926, is an independent U.S. federal government agency that facilitates labor-management relations within the nation’s railroad and airline industries.

The NMB is headed by a three-member board nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The members self-designate a Chairman, typically on a yearly basis. Although appointed for three-year terms, members may serve longer until replaced. The NMB is the federal agency that appoints mediators to assist the parties with productive dialog on their negotiation issues.

Pursuant to the Railway Labor Act, NMB programs provide dispute resolution processes to effectively meet its statutory objectives including:

• avoiding interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier;

• forbidding any limitation upon freedom of association among employees;

• providing for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions.

Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act (RLA) lays out the legal rules and procedures for collective bargaining for workers in the airline and railroad industries. Under the RLA collective bargaining agreements never expire, they become amendable on the date specified in the Duration section of the Contract. The term “amendable” simply means: at the date specified, the Union and the Company can serve notice to each other of their intent to negotiate changes to the terms. The current terms of the Contract – which are known as the “status quo” – stay in place during the negotiations process.

Importantly, rather than having the right to strike immediately upon a Contract expiration date, since RLA negotiated Contracts do not expire, workers under the RLA have the right to strike only if the established procedures for mediation and a 30 Day Cooling Off Period are exhausted without reaching agreement on a new Tentative Agreement.

The “Opener” is the initial set of proposals presented by the Union and management at the start of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The Opener may also be referred to as an “opening letter” or simply a “proposal". It may be detailed or general, but it is intended to put the other side on notice as to the changes being sought to the Contract.

The Opener is how we begin the negotiations; it’s our starting position. Our Opener directly reflects the items you identified as a priority. Our Negotiating Committee uses the survey results, direct feedback from Members, AFA Committees, and direction from your Local Presidents to write our Opening Proposal. They study industry contracts, negotiating history, grievances and other developments to assist in preparations. Our Opener may be detailed in some areas and more general in others to provide room to maneuver throughout the negotiations. The Opener is approved by your Local Council Presidents who make up the United Master Executive Council.

Once we exchange Openers with management, our Negotiating Committee will be taking to the road to review both our, and management’s Openers with you before returning to Direct Negotiations. After the Openers are exchanged the parties begin the work of discussing, clarifying, modifying and negotiating over the changes proposed in the Opener until they can reach agreement on terms acceptable to both parties.

A Tentative Agreement is the agreement reached between our Negotiating Committee and the Company’s Negotiating Committee.

The TA is subject to our Union policies and procedures including acceptance by the United Master Executive Council and ratification by the Membership. Once ratified by the Members the TA becomes the new Contract.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) uses the mediation process to foster agreements and to avoid a resort to self-help whenever possible.

The NMB, whose three members are appointed by the President of the United States, is the federal agency that appoints mediators to assist the parties with productive dialog on their negotiation’s issues.

The Railway Labor Act (RLA) imposes a duty on the parties “to make and maintain agreements… and to settle all disputes… to avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier…”. The parties should attempt to resolve collective bargaining disputes through direct negotiations. Failing that, either party may involve the Board’s services or the Board may involve itself on its own initiative.

The Board will employ a variety of methods, including but not limited to: traditional mediation, interest-based problem solving, or facilitation to peacefully conclude collective bargaining. If, in the Board’s expert assessment, mediation will be unsuccessful, the Board will “induce the parties to submit their (dispute) to arbitration.”

The mediator establishes when and where the parties will meet and may recess a case from time to time if it is deemed appropriate. There is no time limit for the mediation process although our Solidarity can encourage progress. Mediation continues until an agreement is reached or until the NMB determines that further mediation would be fruitless due to an impasse.

If the Company and the Union still fail to reach an agreement during Mediation, the NMB then may offer for the parties to submit any remaining contractual disputes to Binding Arbitration. If BOTH parties agree to arbitration, the NMB holds an arbitration hearing and makes decisions for each dispute, which are then imposed upon both the Union and the company, without a ratification vote.

The parties to a negotiation may be released to a 30-day Cooling Off Period if they are so far apart in their positions that the National Mediation Board (NMB) doesn’t believe there will be any further progress in the negotiations. If no agreement is reached by the end of the 30-day period, the parties are then released to “Self-Help”. The end of the 30-Day Cooling Off Period is commonly referred to as the “Strike Deadline”.

Mediated sessions may continue during the 30-day Cooling Off Period. These meetings are often referred to as “Super-Mediation” and are usually attended by one of the Board Members of the National Mediation Board (NMB). Generally, the meetings are called at or near the end of the 30-day countdown to Self-Help. The Self-Help deadline can provide a new incentive for the parties to reach an agreement. Both parties feel the pressure of Self-Help because without an agreement at the deadline, we would then be free to strike and management would have the right lock us out or impose work rules.

The RLA gives the NMB one additional means for trying to resolve a negotiations dispute and avert a strike or a lockout. The NMB may notify the President of the United States that, in its judgment, an agreement cannot be reached and this may threaten to substantially interrupt interstate commerce and transportation.

The President may create a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to investigate and report on a dispute over the terms of a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Under the Railway Labor Act, the President may exercise their discretion to create an emergency board when the labor dispute threatens “substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service.”

Creation of a PEB delays a strike, lockout or other form of self-help, generally for 60 days. The PEB has 30 days to issue its report. Generally, PEBs provide recommendations for settlement of the dispute. After the PEB reports to the President, the parties to the dispute have another 30-day cooling off period to consider the recommendations of the PEB and to reach an agreement.

If either party rejects the PEB recommendations, the parties may engage in Self-Help at the end of this last 30-day Cooling-Off Period, including strikes, lockouts and unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment. Finally, Congress may also intervene and mandate an Agreement legislatively, ordering the parties to adopt the findings of the PEB.