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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219-8211.
Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and Secretary of
Transportation Federico Pena today announced the selection of four facilitators
to work with labor-management committees in the railroad and airline
industries. These committees will discuss improvements in the process for
settling labor disputes. Together, the railroad and airline industries employ
more than 750,000 workers.
The four facilitators are Robert O. Harris of Washington,
D.C., and William L. Schecter of South Salem, New York, who will work with the
airline labor-management committee; and Richard Mittenthal of Birmingham,
Michigan, and Richard R. Kasher of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, who will work with
the railroad labor- management committee. All four facilitators are arbitrators
and attorneys.
"I am confident that these four knowledgeable and
experienced gentlemen will make an important contribution to the work of the
labor-management committees," Reich said. Pena commented, "the airline and
railroad industries, their workers, management, and customers will be
well-served."
Prior to today's announcement, Secretary Reich and
Secretary Pena met with the three members of the National Mediation Board, all
of whom endorsed the secretaries' selections. Members of the Commission on the
Future of Worker-Management Relations also attended the meeting with
Secretaries Reich and Pena and the Board members.
The labor-management committees were created in response
to a section of the Report and Recommendations of the Commission on the Future
of Worker-Management Relations issued in December 1994 that considered the
Railway Labor Act. The Railway Labor Act, administered by the three-member
National Mediation Board, regulates labor relations in the railroad and airline
industries. Consistent with the Commission's recommendations, the labor-
management committees will conduct a series of conferences and meetings
regarding possible changes in the Railway Labor Act, the procedures of the
National Mediation Board, and the approaches of rail and air carriers and
unions to labor relations. Some of the issues to be addressed by the committees
include: reducing the length of disputes and improving the negotiation process;
RLA jurisdiction issues; reducing the burdens placed on short line and commuter
railroads and airlines; and reducing litigation and finding ways to shorten the
grievance and arbitration process.
The labor-management committees will complete their work
no later than March 31, 1996. The National Mediation Board will forward the
reports with comments to Secretaries Reich and Pena no later than May 31,
1996.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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