[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1327 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1327

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide emergency Secretarial 
              authority to resolve airline labor disputes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2001

   Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Burns) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide emergency Secretarial 
              authority to resolve airline labor disputes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Airline Labor Dispute Resolution 
Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT OF AUTHORITY.

    Section 42112 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(e) Emergency Authority of the Secretary.--
            ``(1) Declaration of emergency.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this section or of section 40109(d) of this title, 
        the Secretary shall declare an air transportation emergency 
        whenever the Secretary finds that a labor dispute between an 
        air carrier that provides service to a hub airport (as defined 
        in section 41731(a)(3)) and an employee organization 
        representing employees of that carrier--
                    ``(A) threatens to interrupt the carriage of 
                passengers or cargo in interstate air transportation by 
                an air carrier in any region of the country in a manner 
                that is likely to curtail operations significantly at 
                any hub airport (as defined in section 41731(a)(3)) and 
                thereby cause injury to the economy of that region;
                    ``(B) threatens to interrupt the carriage of 
                passengers or cargo in foreign air transportation in a 
                manner that is likely to cause injury to the foreign 
                commerce of the United States or its balance of 
                payments; or
                    ``(C) threatens the national security or foreign 
                policy interests of the United States.
            ``(2) Action by secretary.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law or procedure established thereby, the 
        Secretary shall issue an order to resolve a labor dispute by 
        arbitration whenever the Secretary declares an air 
        transportation emergency with respect to a labor dispute under 
        paragraph (1). The Secretary shall thereupon appoint a panel of 
        arbitrators, composed of 5 members, 1 designated by each party 
        to the dispute, and 3 neutral arbitrators to be designated by 
        agreement between the 2 other members. If those 2 members are 
        unable to agree on the neutral arbitrators within 5 days after 
        their designation, the Secretary shall ask the American 
        Arbitration Association to submit within 3 days a list of 11 
        arbitrators who are members of the National Academy of 
        Arbitrators and are qualified and willing to serve. At a 
        special meeting called by the Secretary, each member designated 
        by a party shall alternately strike a name from the list until 
        3 names remain, who shall be the mutually designated neutral 
        arbitrators. No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise 
        interested in any organization of employees or any air carrier. 
        The compensation and expenses of the panel members shall be 
        fixed by the Secretary and shall be borne equally by each party 
        to the dispute. A panel shall be created separately for each 
        declared transportation emergency, and it shall investigate 
        promptly the facts as to the dispute.
            ``(3) Required filings.--Within 10 days after the date on 
        which the 3 neutral arbitrators are appointed, each party to 
        the dispute shall file with the panel a document containing the 
        following:
                    ``(A) The name, affiliation, and address of the 
                party submitting the filing.
                    ``(B) A statement that the employee organization 
                involved is either certified or recognized.
                    ``(C) The number of employees in the negotiating 
                unit, together with a list of the job titles 
                represented in that unit.
                    ``(D) A statement of the currently applicable rates 
                of pay, rules, and working conditions.
                    ``(E) A clear and concise history of negotiations 
                leading to the impasse, including the number and dates 
                of the negotiation sessions.
                    ``(F) A list of all issues in dispute concerning 
                changes in rates of pay, rules, and working conditions 
                not adjusted by the parties in conference, and the 
                party's position on those issues.
                    ``(G) The complete, written terms of the party's 
                final offer on those issues, including the text of the 
                party's proposed agreement on the changes in rates of 
pay, rules, and working conditions.
                    ``(H) A clear and concise statement of any other 
                relevant facts and any supporting documentation.
            ``(4) Opportunity for presentations.--Within 15 days after 
        the date on which the document required by paragraph (3) is 
        filed by both parties, the panel shall afford each party an 
        opportunity to make oral and written presentations on its 
        filing and to respond to questions.
            ``(5) Selection by panel; applicable factors.--Within 30 
        days after date on which the document required by paragraph (3) 
        is filed by both parties, the panel shall, by a majority vote, 
        select either the offer in its entirety concerning rates of 
        pay, rules, and working conditions presented by the carrier or 
        carriers involved or the offer in its entirety concerning rates 
        of pay, rules, and working conditions presented by the employee 
        organization involved. The panel shall prepare a written 
        explanation of its selection and the reasons for the selection, 
        and shall furnish a certified copy of its selection to the 
        parties to the dispute and to the Secretary. The panel shall 
        make its selection based on the following factors:
                    ``(A) The stipulations of the parties.
                    ``(B) The financial condition of the air carrier 
                and its ability to incur changes in labor costs while 
                continuing to maintain its competitive market position, 
                pay its debts, meet its other contractual obligations, 
                provide job security and equivalent treatment for all 
                of its employees, and return a reasonable profit, 
                consistent with historic margins and rates of return, 
                for its shareholders.
                    ``(C) A comparison of the rates of pay of the 
                employees involved in the dispute with the rates of pay 
                of other employees performing similar services for 
                comparable air carriers offering similar air 
                transportation services to public.
                    ``(D) The rules and working conditions applied by 
                the air carrier and comparable air carriers offering 
                similar air transportation services to the public in 
                light of market conditions for those services.
                    ``(E) Such other factors as are normally and 
                traditionally taken into consideration in the 
                determination of rates of pay, rules, and working 
                conditions through collective bargaining, mediation, 
                fact-finding, arbitration or otherwise between the 
                parties.
                    ``(F) Changes in the average consumer prices for 
                goods and services, commonly known as the cost of 
                living, including changes in the Consumer Price Index.
                    ``(G) The existing collective bargaining agreement 
                between the parties and the history of the collective 
                bargaining agreements between the parties, including 
                the history of negotiations leading to the impasse.
            ``(6) Selection by panel.--Within 10 days after the panel 
        furnishes its selection to the Secretary, either party may file 
        with the Secretary a petition to set aside the selection on the 
        grounds set forth in paragraph (7). If no petition to set aside 
        the selection has been filed within 10 days after the filing of 
        the selection, the Secretary shall enter an order directing the 
        parties to give effect to the panel's selection, which order 
        shall be final and conclusive on the parties.
            ``(7) Petition to set aside selection.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may entertain a 
                petition to set aside a selection furnished to the 
                Secretary under paragraph (6) of this subsection only 
                if the Secretary finds that--
                            ``(i) the selection by the panel does not 
                        conform, or confine itself, to the requirements 
                        of this section;
                            ``(ii) the selection by the panel does not 
                        conform, or confine itself, to matters 
                        concerning rates of pay, rules, and working 
                        conditions;
                            ``(iii) the selection by the panel does not 
                        conform, or confine itself, to matters within 
                        the scope of jurisdiction under title II of the 
                        Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
                            ``(iv) the selection by the panel does not 
                        conform, or confine itself, to the offer in its 
                        entirety concerning rates of pay, rules, and 
                        working conditions presented by one of the 
                        parties to the dispute; or
                            ``(v) a party to the dispute or a member of 
                        the panel practiced fraud or corruption which 
                        affected the selection.
                    ``(B) Remedy for uncertainty.--The Secretary may 
                not entertain any such petition on the ground that the 
                selection is invalid for uncertainty. If either party 
                to the dispute seeks to set aside the selection on that 
                ground, it shall submit the dispute to a board of 
                adjustment as provided in sections 204 and 205 of title 
                II of the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 184 and 185).
                    ``(C) Minor error.--A selection by the panel under 
                paragraph (6) may not be set aside for trivial 
                irregularity or clerical error affecting only a matter 
                of form and not the substance of the selection.
            ``(8) Action by secretary.--
                    ``(A) Deadline.--The Secretary shall issue a final 
                order either granting or denying the petition to set 
                aside the panel's selection within 10 days after the 
                petition is filed.
                    ``(B) Whole or partial invalidity.--Except as 
                provided in subparagraph (C), if the Secretary 
                determines that the selection is invalid in whole or in 
                part under paragraph (7)(A), the Secretary shall set 
                aside the selection and remand it to the panel for 
                further action.
                    ``(C) Split decision.--If the Secretary determines 
                that--
                            ``(i) only a part of the selection is 
                        invalid under paragraph (7)(A),
                            ``(ii) the valid and invalid parts of the 
                        selection are separable, and
                            ``(iii) the parties agree to a setting 
                        aside only of the part determined to be 
                        invalid,
        then the Secretary shall set aside the invalid part, enter an 
        order requiring the parties to give effect to the valid part, 
        and remand the invalid part for further action by the panel 
        consistent with the Secretary's order.
            ``(9) Judicial review.--At the request of either party to 
        the dispute, a final order of the Secretary under this 
        subsection is subject to review by the court of appeals under 
        section 46110 of this title. For the purpose of applying that 
        section to a petition for review of an order by the Secretary 
        under this section, the terms `10 days' and `10th day' shall be 
        substituted for `60 days' and `60th day' in section 46110(a). 
        Any such petition shall stay the effectiveness of the 
        Secretary's final order, which shall otherwise become effective 
        on the 10th day after the date it is issued.
            ``(10) Status quo requirement; injunctive relief.--Upon the 
        issuance of an order to resolve a labor dispute under this 
        subsection and until the Secretary's final order becomes 
        effective, no change, except by agreement, shall be made by 
        either party to the dispute in the rates of pay, rules, or 
        working conditions out of which the dispute arose. Changes 
        thereafter shall only be made consistent with the terms of the 
        Secretary's final order. A court of competent jurisdiction 
        shall enjoin any effort by a party to make unilateral changes 
        before the Secretary's final order becomes effective at the 
        request of the other party to the dispute.
            ``(11) Rates of pay defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        `rates of pay' includes wages, vacation, holidays, and excused 
        time, insurance and defined pension or contribution plans, 
        profitsharing plans, medical and hospitalization benefits, the 
        continuity and stability of employment, and all other 
        consideration and benefits of any nature, paid or received.''.
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