The Railway Labor Act is one of a kind. In fact, it is a common toast to suggest that one live long enough to understand the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Railroad journalist, economist, former rail regulator, and rail-labor expert Frank N. Wilner offers a straight-forward and very readable history, evolution, description, justification and critique of the RLA in this book.
Understanding the Railway Labor Act is aimed at two audiences. One is those seeking to learn more about rail labor history, the mechanics of rail labor law, and how railroads and their multiple unions bargain collectively under the RLA's provisions. The second intended audience is those familiar with the RLA, but seeking a reference work providing greater detail of the law's provisions and how they impact negotiations at the national and local levels.
Included are separate chapters that discuss labor protection in the railroad industry, secondary boycotts, and the crew-consist dispute - how many crew members are required to operate freight and passenger trains, which, for decades, has flared, simmered and flared again. Also explained and analyzed are interest-based bargaining, alternatives to the RLA, and congressional intervention in railroad labor disputes.
Wilner, the author of four other educational books on railroad economics and regulation, includes hundreds of endnotes, which cite congressional action, court decisions and news accounts. Railway Age magazine once described Wilner as the only individual who has viewed the railroad industry as a carrier official, a labor official, a regulator and a journalist.
Included in the book are essays in defense of the Railway Labor Act, written by veteran practitioners: Former CSX chief labor negotiator Ken Peifer, United Transportation Union General Counsel Clint Miller, arbitrator Frank Quinn, and National Mediation Board member Harry Hoglander. Also, Larry Kaufman, a former senior executive at the Association of American Railroads, Burlington Northern, and Southern Pacific, provides an introduction.
Contents:
Preface, Introduction,
Labor Law Takes Shape, pp. 1-6,
Organize!, pp. 7-24,
Can't We All Just Get Along?, pp. 25-40,
Federal Control of Railroads, pp. 41-52,
The Railway Labor Act of 1926, pp. 53-76,
Experience Under the RLA, pp. 77-84,
The Crew-Consist Controversy, pp. 85-112,
Job and Income Protection, pp. 113-136,
Secondary Boycotts, pp. 137-146,
Alternatives to the Railway Labor Act, pp. 147-162,
Siren Song of Merger, pp. 163-172,
Essays in Defense of the RLA, pp. 173-194,
End notes, pp. 195-264.
Simmons-Boardman, softcover, 286 pages, small format 6 x 9, all text.
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