Railway Labor Act
Railway Labor Act is the 1926 US federal law, extended to airlines in 1936, that governs collective bargaining at railroads and airlines and makes strikes possible only after a long mediation process.
What it requires
Carriers and unions must bargain and cannot strike or lock out while the National Mediation Board is mediating. When the board releases the parties, a 30-day cooling-off period follows, and the President may create a Presidential Emergency Board, which delays self-help for further periods. Congress can then legislate a settlement, as it did in December 2022 to avert a freight rail strike. Unions organize by craft or class across a carrier's entire system, not by single site.
Why it matters
The Railway Labor Act explains why rail and air cargo strikes are rare but disruptive when they loom. Shippers using intermodal rail or air express get months of warning, since a strike can come only after mediation, emergency boards and cooling-off periods run out. For example, FedEx Express is covered by the RLA as an express carrier, so organizing there must happen nationwide by craft, unlike UPS, whose drivers and warehouse workers are covered by the NLRA and the Teamsters national contract.
Events
Related laws
Sources
- National Mediation Board nmb.gov
- 45 U.S.C. Chapter 8 (Cornell LII) law.cornell.edu
Not legal advice.