[United States Government Manual]
[June 01, 2007]
[Pages 469-472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD

1301 K Street NW., Suite 250 East, Washington, DC 20005

Phone, 202-692-5000. Internet, www.nmb.gov.
Chairman                                          Elizabeth Dougherty
Members                                           Harry R. Hoglander, 
                                                          Read Van de 
                                                          Water
Director, Mediation Services                      Larry Gibbons
    Director, Alternative Dispute                 Daniel Rainey
            Resolution
    General Counsel, Office of Legal              Mary Johnson
            Affairs
    Director, Arbitration Services                Roland Watkins
    Director, Administration                      June King

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The National Mediation Board maintains a free flow of commerce in the 
railroad and airline industries by resolving labor-management disputes. 
The Board also handles

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railroad and airline employee representation disputes and provides 
administrative and financial support in adjusting grievances in the 
railroad industry.
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency established 
by the act of June 21, 1934, which amended the Railway Labor Act of 1926 
(45 U.S.C. 151-158, 160-162, 1181-1188). The Board is composed of three 
members, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
    NMB performs a central role in facilitating harmonious labor-
management relations within the railroads and airlines industries. NMB 
is also authorized to resolve employee representation disputes.

Activities

Mediation  NMB ensures that labor and management exert every reasonable 
effort to make and maintain collective bargaining agreements. If these 
parties fail to reach an agreement, however, either or both may apply to 
the Board for mediation. Following receipt of an application, NMB 
promptly assigns a mediator to assist the parties. NMB mediators apply a 
variety of dispute resolution techniques, including traditional 
mediation, interest-based problem solving, and facilitation, to resolve 
the dispute. If after such efforts the Board determines that mediation 
will not settle the dispute, NMB offers voluntary arbitration (interest 
arbitration) as an alternative approach to resolve the remaining issues. 
This option is rarely exercised by the parties. In situations where 
interest arbitration is used, an arbitrator's decision is final and 
binding with very narrow ground for judicial review. If this arbitration 
is rejected, the Board promptly releases the parties from formal 
mediation, triggering a 30-day cooling off period. If an agreement has 
not been reached by the end of the 30-day period, the parties are free 
to exercise lawful self-help (such as strikes, lock-outs, etc.), unless 
a Presidential Emergency Board is established.
Alternative Dispute Resolution  In addition to traditional mediation 
services, NMB also provides Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 
services. ADR services include facilitation, training, and grievance 
mediation. The ADR program assists the parties in learning and applying 
more effective, less confrontational methods for resolving their 
disputes. It also helps the parties resolve more of their own disputes 
without outside intervention. The ADR program includes an online dispute 
resolution component.
Presidential Emergency Board  NMB makes recommendations for the 
establishment of a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to investigate and 
report on a collective bargaining dispute which severely threatens 
interstate commerce and transportation. At the President's discretion, a 
PEB is established for 30 days to investigate and report back on the 
situation, during which time neither party may exercise self-help. A PEB 
may also be requested by any party involved in a dispute affecting a 
publicly funded and operated commuter railroad, including the Governor 
of any State where the railroad operates.
Representation  When a labor organization or individual files an 
application with NMB to represent employees, NMB assigns an investigator 
to conduct a representation investigation. Should the applicant meet 
requirements, NMB will continue the investigation, usually with a 
process known as Telephone Election Voting (TEV). In the TEV process, 
voters in the craft or class use two secret passwords to cast ballots by 
telephone instead of using mail-in paper ballots. TEV, inaugurated by 
NMB in October 2002, is secure and accurate. In order for a 
representative to be certified, a majority of the eligible voters must 
cast valid ballots in support of representation. The Board is 
responsible for ensuring that the requirements for a fair election 
process have been maintained. If the employees vote to be represented, 
the Board issues a certification of that result, which commences the 
carrier's statutory duty to bargain with the certified representative.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T211657.050


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Arbitration  NMB offers both interest and grievance arbitration. 
Interest arbitration is a process to establish the terms of a new or 
modified collective bargaining agreement through arbitration, rather 
than through negotiations. Although its use is not statutorily required, 
interest arbitration decisions are final and binding with very narrow 
grounds for judicial appeal.
    Grievance arbitration, involving the interpretation or application 
of an existing collective bargaining agreement, is mandatory. In the 
railroad industry, NMB has significant administrative responsibilities 
for the three grievance-arbitration forums: the National Railroad 
Adjustment Board (NRAB), Special Boards of Adjustment (SBAs) and Public 
Law Boards (PLBs). NRAB and its four divisions have statutory 
jurisdiction over all rail carrier's and all crafts and classes of 
railroad employees. SBAs are created by mutual agreement of the parties, 
and PLBs are established on individual railroads upon the written 
request of either party to a dispute. Grievance arbitration in the 
airline industry is accomplished at the various system boards of 
adjustment created jointly by labor and management at the parties' 
expense. NMB furnishes panels of prospective arbitrators for the 
parties' selection on both the airline and railroad industries. 
Arbitration decisions are final and binding with very limited grounds 
for judicial review.

Sources of Information

Electronic Access  Information pertaining to Board operations including 
weekly case activity reports, representation determinations, press 
releases, and an agency directory are available on the Internet at 
www.nmb.gov.
NMB Knowledge Store  NMB's Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution 
designed, built, and implemented a public archive, available through the 
NMB Web site, containing public documents related to the agency's 
operations back to its inception in 1934. Currently, the Knowledge Store 
contains over 100,000 documents in an easily searchable format, 
including arbitration awards, representation decisions, annual reports, 
PEB reports, industry contracts, and union constitutions and bylaws.
Publications  The Annual Reports of the National Mediation Board are 
available on the NMB Web site (www.nmb.gov) in the Knowledge Store. A 
limited supply of hard copies, both current and past, are also available 
for public distribution. Phone, 202-692-5031.
Virtual Reading Room  Copies of collective-bargaining agreements between 
labor and management of various rail and air carriers and NMB 
Determinations (back to at least October 1, 1998) are available on the 
NMB Web site (www.nmb.gov) in the Knowledge Store.

For further information, contact the Public Information Officer, 
National Mediation Board, Suite 250 East, 1301 K Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20005-7011. Phone, 202-692-5050. Internet, www.nmb.gov.

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