This should get your attention!

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107th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1327
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide emergency
Secretarial authority to resolve airline labor disputes.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 2, 2001
Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. BURNS) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions



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A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide emergency
Secretarial authority to resolve airline labor disputes.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Airline Labor Dispute Resolution Act'.

SEC. 2. GRANT OF AUTHORITY.

Section 42112 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following:

`(e) Emergency Authority of the Secretary-

`(1) DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY- Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section or of section 40109(d) of this title, the Secretary
shall declare an air transportation emergency whenever the Secretary
finds that a labor dispute between an air carrier that provides
service to a hub airport (as defined in section 41731(a)(3)) and an
employee organization representing employees of that carrier--

`(A) threatens to interrupt the carriage of passengers or cargo in
interstate air transportation by an air carrier in any region of the
country in a manner that is likely to curtail operations
significantly at any hub airport (as defined in section 41731(a)(3))
and thereby cause injury to the economy of that region;

`(B) threatens to interrupt the carriage of passengers or cargo in
foreign air transportation in a manner that is likely to cause injury
to the foreign commerce of the United States or its balance of
payments; or

`(C) threatens the national security or foreign policy interests of
the United States.

`(2) ACTION BY SECRETARY- Notwithstanding any other provision of law
or procedure established thereby, the Secretary shall issue an order
to resolve a labor dispute by arbitration whenever the Secretary
declares an air transportation emergency with respect to a labor
dispute under paragraph (1). The Secretary shall thereupon appoint a
panel of arbitrators, composed of 5 members, 1 designated by each
party to the dispute, and 3 neutral arbitrators to be designated by
agreement between the 2 other members. If those 2 members are unable
to agree on the neutral arbitrators within 5 days after their
designation, the Secretary shall ask the American Arbitration
Association to submit within 3 days a list of 11 arbitrators who are
members of the National Academy of Arbitrators and are qualified and
willing to serve. At a special meeting called by the Secretary, each
member designated by a party shall alternately strike a name from the
list until 3 names remain, who shall be the mutually designated
neutral arbitrators. No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise
interested in any organization of employees or any air carrier. The
compensation and expenses of the panel members shall be fixed by the
Secretary and shall be borne equally by each party to the dispute. A
panel shall be created separately for each declared transportation
emergency, and it shall investigate promptly the facts as to the
dispute.

`(3) REQUIRED FILINGS- Within 10 days after the date on which the 3
neutral arbitrators are appointed, each party to the dispute shall
file with the panel a document containing the following:

`(A) The name, affiliation, and address of the party submitting the
filing.

`(B) A statement that the employee organization involved is either
certified or recognized.

`(C) The number of employees in the negotiating unit, together with a
list of the job titles represented in that unit.

`(D) A statement of the currently applicable rates of pay, rules, and
working conditions.

`(E) A clear and concise history of negotiations leading to the
impasse, including the number and dates of the negotiation sessions.

`(F) A list of all issues in dispute concerning changes in rates of
pay, rules, and working conditions not adjusted by the parties in
conference, and the party's position on those issues.

`(G) The complete, written terms of the party's final offer on those
issues, including the text of the party's proposed agreement on the
changes in rates of pay, rules, and working conditions.


`(H) A clear and concise statement of any other relevant facts and
any supporting documentation.

`(4) OPPORTUNITY FOR PRESENTATIONS- Within 15 days after the date on
which the document required by paragraph (3) is filed by both
parties, the panel shall afford each party an opportunity to make
oral and written presentations on its filing and to respond to
questions.

`(5) SELECTION BY PANEL; APPLICABLE FACTORS- Within 30 days after
date on which the document required by paragraph (3) is filed by both
parties, the panel shall, by a majority vote, select either the offer
in its entirety concerning rates of pay, rules, and working
conditions presented by the carrier or carriers involved or the offer
in its entirety concerning rates of pay, rules, and working
conditions presented by the employee organization involved. The panel
shall prepare a written explanation of its selection and the reasons
for the selection, and shall furnish a certified copy of its
selection to the parties to the dispute and to the Secretary. The
panel shall make its selection based on the following factors:

`(A) The stipulations of the parties.

`(B) The financial condition of the air carrier and its ability to
incur changes in labor costs while continuing to maintain its
competitive market position, pay its debts, meet its other
contractual obligations, provide job security and equivalent
treatment for all of its employees, and return a reasonable profit,
consistent with historic margins and rates of return, for its
shareholders.

`(C) A comparison of the rates of pay of the employees involved in
the dispute with the rates of pay of other employees performing
similar services for comparable air carriers offering similar air
transportation services to public.

`(D) The rules and working conditions applied by the air carrier and
comparable air carriers offering similar air transportation services
to the public in light of market conditions for those services.

`(E) Such other factors as are normally and traditionally taken into
consideration in the determination of rates of pay, rules, and
working conditions through collective bargaining, mediation, fact-
finding, arbitration or otherwise between the parties.

`(F) Changes in the average consumer prices for goods and services,
commonly known as the cost of living, including changes in the
Consumer Price Index.

`(G) The existing collective bargaining agreement between the parties
and the history of the collective bargaining agreements between the
parties, including the history of negotiations leading to the impasse.

`(6) SELECTION BY PANEL- Within 10 days after the panel furnishes its
selection to the Secretary, either party may file with the Secretary
a petition to set aside the selection on the grounds set forth in
paragraph (7). If no petition to set aside the selection has been
filed within 10 days after the filing of the selection, the Secretary
shall enter an order directing the parties to give effect to the
panel's selection, which order shall be final and conclusive on the
parties.

`(7) Petition to set aside selection-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may entertain a petition to set aside
a selection furnished to the Secretary under paragraph (6) of this
subsection only if the Secretary finds that--

`(i) the selection by the panel does not conform, or confine itself,
to the requirements of this section;

`(ii) the selection by the panel does not conform, or confine itself,
to matters concerning rates of pay, rules, and working conditions;

`(iii) the selection by the panel does not conform, or confine
itself, to matters within the scope of jurisdiction under title II of
the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);

`(iv) the selection by the panel does not conform, or confine itself,
to the offer in its entirety concerning rates of pay, rules, and
working conditions presented by one of the parties to the dispute; or

`(v) a party to the dispute or a member of the panel practiced fraud
or corruption which affected the selection.

`(B) REMEDY FOR UNCERTAINTY- The Secretary may not entertain any such
petition on the ground that the selection is invalid for uncertainty.
If either party to the dispute seeks to set aside the selection on
that ground, it shall submit the dispute to a board of adjustment as
provided in sections 204 and 205 of title II of the Railway Labor Act
(45 U.S.C. 184 and 185).

`(C) MINOR ERROR- A selection by the panel under paragraph (6) may
not be set aside for trivial irregularity or clerical error affecting
only a matter of form and not the substance of the selection.

 

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part 2

`(8) Action by secretary-

`(A) Deadline- The Secretary shall issue a final order either
granting or denying the petition to set aside the panel's selection
within 10 days after the petition is filed.

`(B) WHOLE OR PARTIAL INVALIDITY- Except as provided in subparagraph
(C), if the Secretary determines that the selection is invalid in
whole or in part under paragraph (7)(A), the Secretary shall set
aside the selection and remand it to the panel for further action.

`(C) SPLIT DECISION- If the Secretary determines that--

`(i) only a part of the selection is invalid under paragraph (7)(A),

`(ii) the valid and invalid parts of the selection are separable, and

`(iii) the parties agree to a setting aside only of the part
determined to be invalid,

then the Secretary shall set aside the invalid part, enter an order
requiring the parties to give effect to the valid part, and remand
the invalid part for further action by the panel consistent with the
Secretary's order.

`(9) JUDICIAL REVIEW- At the request of either party to the dispute,
a final order of the Secretary under this subsection is subject to
review by the court of appeals under section 46110 of this title. For
the purpose of applying that section to a petition for review of an
order by the Secretary under this section, the terms `10 days' and
`10th day' shall be substituted for `60 days' and `60th day' in
section 46110(a). Any such petition shall stay the effectiveness of
the Secretary's final order, which shall otherwise become effective
on the 10th day after the date it is issued.
`(10) STATUS QUO REQUIREMENT; INJUNCTIVE RELIEF- Upon the issuance of
an order to resolve a labor dispute under this subsection and until
the Secretary's final order becomes effective, no change, except by
agreement, shall be made by either party to the dispute in the rates
of pay, rules, or working conditions out of which the dispute arose.
Changes thereafter shall only be made consistent with the terms of
the Secretary's final order. A court of competent jurisdiction shall
enjoin any effort by a party to make unilateral changes before the
Secretary's final order becomes effective at the request of the other
party to the dispute.

`(11) RATES OF PAY DEFINED- In this subsection, the term `rates of
pay' includes wages, vacation, holidays, and excused time, insurance
and defined pension or contribution plans, profitsharing plans,
medical and hospitalization benefits, the continuity and stability of
employment, and all other consideration and benefits of any nature,
paid or received.'.
END