Part V

Railroads and Labor Relations

Record Group 1 Records of the War Labor Policies Board

V.1 Established on May 13, 1918, to standardize the labor policies of Government agencies during World War I, the Board was concerned primarily with recommending uniform labor policies for all Federal Government agencies and depended on agencies represented in its membership for the execution of those policies. The first chairman of the War Labor Policies Board was Felix Frankfurter, Assistant to the Secretary of Labor. Included in the records is documentation concerning railroad labor issues. Descriptive information concerning the War Labor Policies Board was taken from the Preliminary Inventory of the War Labor Policies Board Records, PI 179.

V.2 Among the general records of the War Labor Policies Board is the correspondence of the chairman and of the executive secretary, May 1918-February 1919 (9 ft.)(MLR Entry 2, PI 4), arranged alphabetically by name of addressee or by subject. The series consists of correspondence with members of the staff, Government agencies, scholars, private individuals, and others dealing with a variety of subjects including minority workers, prison labor, the employment of women, living conditions of war workers, price control, and 8-hour laws. One of the agencies represented on the board was the U.S. Railroad Administration and this series contains correspondence regarding circulars, memorandums, and pamphlets of the Administration and centralized labor recruiting of railroad workers.

Record Group 13 Records of the National Mediation Board

V.3 This record group includes the records of the National Mediation Board and the various railroad labor boards charged with settling disputes between railroad employees and carriers engaged in interstate commerce between 1888 and 1965. These agencies included the U.S. Strike Commission, 1894; the Board of Arbitration, 1899-1913, the U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation, 1913-21; the Railroad Labor Board, 1920-26; the Board of Mediation, 1926-34, the National Mediation Board, 1934-65; the National Railway Labor Panel, 1942-47; the Railroad Marine Workers Commission, 1962; and the Railroad Lighter Captains Commission, 1962. The primary functions of these organizations included Federal Government mediation of disputes between operating railroad employees and carriers engaged in interstate commerce. Should the mediation process not produce an agreement, the parties could submit to voluntary arbitration set up by the commissioners of the various organizations. The records of the National Mediation Board and its predecessor and subsidiary agencies are described at the agency level and significant series are listed below. Most of the records are listed and described in more detail in the Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National Mediation Board, PI 179.

Records of Predecessor Agencies

V.4 The U.S. Strike Commission was an investigative commission set up by President Grover Cleveland in accordance with the provisions of the act of October 1, 1888, authorizing the President to establish temporary commissions to investigate and report on controversies between railroads engaged in interstate commerce and their employees. The U.S. Strike Commission, under the terms of the act, was to investigate and report on the Pullman (or American Railway Union) Strike of 1894. The commission held hearings in Chicago from August 15-30, 1894, and another hearing in Washington on September 26. In its final report, the commissioners did not offer specific suggestions for the settlement of this dispute because the strike had already been settled by the dispatch of troops to Chicago. Instead they recommended methods for settling future labor disputes. Letters sent, July 14, 1894-January 28, 1896 (3 in.)(MLR Entry 1, A1) are the only extant records of the Commission.

V.5 The Board of Arbitration was created by the Erdman Act, approved June 1, 1898, and inaugurated Federal Government mediation of disputes between operating railroad employees and carriers engaged in interstate commerce. The act named the Commissioner of Labor and the Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission as mediators to disputes between the railroad employees and the carriers. The mediators had no formal organization until the Board of Arbitration was set up in 1912. The Board was replaced by the U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation, pursuant to an act of July 15, 1913, also known as the Newlands Act. The records of the Board of Arbitration consist mostly of case files, 1899 and 1907-13 (10 ft.)(MLR Entry 2, A1) and undocketed case files, 1908-13 (4 in.)(MLR Entry 3, A1).

V.6 Other significant series of records of the Board of Arbitration include the following series:

1. general correspondence of Charles P. Neill, 1909-13 (10 in.)(MLR Entry 6, A1);

2. carriers' wage schedules, 1911-12 (6 in.)(MLR Entry 9, A1); and

3. reference material pertaining to railroad labor legislation, settlement of labor disputes, and Erdman Act cases, 1901-1913 (4 in.)(MLR Entry 11, A1).

V.7 The United States Board of Mediation and Conciliation was established by the Newlands Act (1913) to adjust disputes between railroads and their operating employees whenever the disputes interrupted or threatened to interrupt the operation of carriers to the "serious detriment of the public interest." Voluntary arbitration was also provided for those disputes that could not be settled by mediation. The Board was composed of a Commissioner and an Assistant Commission of Mediation and Conciliation. Jurisdiction of the Board was restricted during World War I to the short-line railroads not under Federal control, as the U.S. Railroad Administration operated most U.S. railroads. Important series among the records of the board include records created by the office of Martin A. Knapp, who was the Chairman of the U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation: outgoing correspondence of Judge Martin A. Knapp ("Mediation Letters"), February 1912-November 1913 (1 in.)(MLR Entry 12, A1), and U.S. Board of Mediation and Conciliation decisions-interpretations by Judge Knapp, 1915-18 (1 in.)(MLR Entry 13, A1).

V.8 Records of the Office of the Commissioner and the Disbursing Officer contain the following relevant series:

1. office files of Commissioner William L. Chambers, 1913-20 (2 ft.)(MLR Entry 14, A1), relating to railway labor legislation, interagency relations, and wages and living conditions;

2. records relating to railroad disputes, 1917-20 (2 in.)(MLR Entry 15, A1);

3. mediation and arbitration case files, 1913-21 (24 ft.)(MLR Entry 18, A1), and related correspondence files, telegrams, and press and periodical clippings pertaining to the 8-hour day controversy of 1916, and records pertaining to the Adamson (8-hour day) law. These records are from the Office of the Secretary.

4. records of the Disbursing Officer include records relating to budget estimates and appropriations, 1913-20 (1 ft.)(MLR Entry 32, A1).

5. In addition to these series, there are several series of arbitration papers, addresses, and personal papers of William L. Chambers.

V.9 The Transportation Act, which ended Federal control of the railroads in 1920, also established the Railroad Labor Board (RLB) to hear and decide railroad labor disputes. All disputes involving changes in wages that were not settled in a conference of the parties were to be brought to the RLB for hearing and decision. The RLB was also authorized to investigate, study, and publish data on the relations between carriers and their employees, in particular questions relating to conditions of employment. The RLB consisted of nine members, three each representing the public, railway labor, and the carriers.

The records of the RLB include the following series:

1. minutes of the executive sessions of the U.S. RLB with index-digest, 1920-26 (8 ft.)(MLR Entry 35, A1) and decisions of Regional Train Service Boards of Adjustment, 1921-26 (2 ft.)(MLR Entry 40, A1), from the board and its members. There are also several series of transcripts of proceedings of the RLB.

2. central files, 1920-26 (11 ft.)(MLR Entry 44, A1), from the the Office of the Secretary and its component parts; and

3. original decisions of the RLB, 1920-26 (3 ft.)(MLR Entry 46, A1).

Other records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary include several other series of indexes and decisions affecting railroads and railroad employees.

V.10 The Docket Department of the RLB is responsible for the analysis of petitions, applications for decisions, submissions, and other documentary evidence and exhibits received by the Board. Docketed case files, 1920-26 (396 ft.)(MLR Entry 56, A1), have related indexes and exhibits. One of the indexes is index to docketed and undocketed cases, 1920-26 (32 ft.)(MLR Entry 66, A1), which is arranged numerically by docket number, alphabetically by name of railroad, alphabetically by name of labor organization, and by subject, which includes individual names.

V.11 The records of the Statistical Department include voluminous records concerning the collection of data used by the RLB in the decision-making process. There are many series of records that have considerable informational value. These include several series of statistical charts, studies, and narrative reports in connection with general wage, rules, and working conditions disputes from 1920 to 1926 as well as statistical charts on dockets involving changes in rates of pay, working rules, and fluctuation in employment, earnings, and cost of living in outside industries from 1921 to 1924. Among the more informative records are the following:

1. position descriptions of railroad labor occupations, 1920 (6 ft.)(MLR Entry 83, A1) including reports, correspondence, and carriers corrections pertaining to the "Monthly Report of Employees Service and Compensation," 1921-25;

2. records pertaining to wage surveys, particularly the American Railway Express surveys;

3. copies of agreements between carriers and railroad labor organizations;

4. copies of operating rules of railroads and related correspondence, 1924-26 (5 ft.)(MLR Entry 96, A1); and

5. copies of railroad labor organization constitutions and bylaws, 1922-24 (5 in.)(MLR Entry 97, A1), with index.

V.12 The Board of Mediation, created by the Railway Labor Act of 1926, was charged with the mediation of disputes involving changes in wages, rules, and working conditions between railroad carriers subject to the regulation of the ICC and railroad employees. Samuel Winslow served as Chairman of the five-member board until the Board was abolished in 1934. Winslow's tenure is reflected in the series office of the chairman minutes of executive sessions, 1926-34 (4 in.)(MLR Entry 99, A1), and general records of Samuel E. Winslow, 1926-34 (4 ft.)(MLR Entry 100, A1). There are also two series of the records of board member Oscar B. Colquitt.

V.13 The Office of the Secretary's records include several large series of dispute case files, such as:
wage and representation (CI) case files, 1926-35 (29 ft.)(MLR Entry 104, A1); grievance (GC and GCI) case files, 1926-34 (24 ft.)(MLR Entry 105); miscellaneous complaint (L) case files, 1926-34 (12 ft.)(MLR Entry 106); and arbitration case files, 1926-34 (5 ft.)(MLR Entry 108), along with related registers, indexes, and correspondence.

V.14 Also included in the records of the Board of Mediation are the records of secondary adjustment boards. These boards were created to handle minor grievances. The records of the Chicago Office of the National Railroad Adjustment Board are in the custody of the National Archives-Great Lakes Region. These records include case file docket sheet summaries and related records, dating from 1920 to 1934, which detail grievance cases by railroad employees brought before the board.

V.15 The records of the Board's Division of Administration contain the records of the Office of the Chief and the Library and Publications Section. Technical Divisions A, B, and C were responsible for analyzing and classifying disputes submitted to the Board. Technical Division A handled disputes involving telegraphers, train and traffic employees, station employees, and agents. Technical Division B handled disputes involving maintenance-of-way employees, signalmen, shop labor, Pullman conductors and porters, and dining car stewards. Technical Division C handled disputes involving operating employees. The Technical and Statistical Division superseded Technical Divisions A, B, and C on February 10, 1930. The records for these divisions include:

1. Technical Division A: case files and a reference file of RLB cases;

2. Technical Division B: technical and statistical studies and reports on wage increases;

3. Technical Division C: a reading file of the Assistant Chief of the division, dating from 1926 to 1929;

4. Technical and Statistical Division: various office and subject files; and

5. digests of C cases, 1933-34 (10 in.)(MLR Entry 130, A1).

Records of the National Mediation Board

V.16 The Railway Labor Act of June 21, 1934, as amended, abolished the Board of Mediation and established the National Mediation Board. A principal function of the new Board was the mediation of disputes involving changes in wages, rules, and working conditions between railroad employees and carriers. Another function is the determination and certification of the collective bargaining representative of any craft or class of railroad carrier employees. Other functions included the interpretation of mediation agreements reached, assisting in the selection of neutral arbitrators in the event that the dispute is not resolved by mediation, and advice concerning the need for emergency arbitration boards and railroad adjustment boards.

V.17 The records of the National Mediation Board include agenda for board meetings, correspondence, and reading files of board member Robert O. Boyd from 1954 to 1962; and official mediation case files in the records of the Office of the Executive Secretary. All of these case files are arranged numerically by case number, and there are no indexes available in the records:

1. mediation case files, 1934-60 (243 ft.)(MLR Entry 137, A1);

2. emergency case files, 1956-65 (8 ft.)(MLR Entry 138, A1);

3. interpretation case files, 1936-64 (8 ft.)(MLR Entry 139, A1);

4. representation case files, 1934-59 (191 ft.)(MLR Entry 140, A1);

5. arbitration case files, 1934-65 (121 ft.)(MLR Entry 141, A1); and

6. Emergency Board case files, 1934-60 (121 ft.)(MLR Entry 142, A1).

V.18 The records also include railroad case files donated by Cornell University, Labor-Management Documentation Center, during 1981, to fill gaps in the National Mediation Board records in the National Archives. These files include scattered transcripts of proceedings and other materials (16 ft.)(MLR Entries 1001-1021, UD) before the Board and its predecessors, including the Arbitration Board, the Emergency Board, and other organizations, dating between 1914 and 1955. These records are not described in PI 179.

V.19 The National Railway Adjustment Board (NRAB), also established by the Railway Labor Act of 1934, adjudicated disputes referred by the National Mediation Board involving grievances or the interpretation or application of agreements covering pay, rules, or working conditions in the railroad industry. The headquarters of the NRAB was in Chicago. The records of the NRAB are located in the National Archives-Great Lakes Region and they include case file docket sheet summaries and related records dating from 1920 to 1934.

V.20 Also included in this record group are the records of the National Railway Labor Panel, 1942-47, and the records of the Railroad Marine Workers Commission, 1962.

Record Group 184 Records of the Railroad Retirement Board

V.21 Established as an independent agency by the Railroad Retirement Act (49 Stat.967), August 29, 1935, the Board administers comprehensive retirement-survivor and unemployment-sickness benefit programs for railroad workers and their families pursuant to the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (52 Stat. 1094), June 25, 1938. The first Railroad Retirement Board was established under provisions of an act of June 27, 1934 (48 Stat. 1283), creating a railroad retirement pension system. This board was liquidated subsequent to a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 6, 1935, that the establishing act was unconstitutional.

V.22 The administrative records of the Railroad Retirement Board, dating from 1937 to 1972, are in the custody of the National Archives-Great Lakes Region. Their holdings consist entirely of records of the central office, and they include statistical and narrative reports, correspondence, and memoranda relating to the actions and administrative policies of the board. The records document claims and claims processing; inspections, and audits; and include drafts of board publications. The railroad employee pension case files are still in the custody of the Railroad Retirement Board. These files give genealogical information on railroad employees whose service ended between 1937 and 1972. The records in NARA custody are described by an unnumbered preliminary inventory.

V.23 The general records of the Railroad Retirement Board include:

1. records maintained by the Secretary of the Board, such as minutes of meetings of the Board ("Record of Proceedings"), 1934-75;

2. program files, 1951-85;

3. board reports, 1939-61;

4. board exhibits, 1937-78;

5. records relating to matters that were not the subject of formal board orders ("Informal Actions"), 1942-78; and

6. annual reports, 1936-87.

V.24 The records of the Chief Executive Officer include:

1. general files, 1942-44;

2. correspondence file, 1947-72;

3. administrative orders, 1939-48; and

4. correspondence and other records concerning amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts, 1946-59, including the administrative manual and the field operations manual.

V.25 The operating units of the board include the Office of Administrative Planning and Analysis, the Office of Management Control, the Bureau of Unemployment and Sickness Insurance, and the Bureau of Wage and Service Records. There are a small amount of administrative records for each unit