Primarily because of the importance of air mail transportation, the Railway Labor Act of 1926 was extended to the airline industry in 1936. Thus Congress saw fit to enact a statute that contained provisions to ensure that labor strife would not halt rail services. When transportation stops, however, production stops. Production can cease-at least temporarily-in most other industries without causing significant harm to the economy. Because of transportation’s critical importance to the economy, an essential goal of public policy has been to ensure that both passenger and freight transportation services continue without interruption.
Other important areas of difference relate to the collective bargaining process itself, the procedures for the arbitration of disputes and grievances, and the spheres of authority and jurisdiction to consider such matters as unfair labor practices.Ĭongress established a special labor law for railroad and airline workers for several reasons. Labor contracts negotiated under the RLA continue in perpetuity, for example, whereas all other labor contracts expire at a specified date. economy consists of two separate and distinct acts: the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries, and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which governs labor relations in all other industrial sectors.Īlthough the NLRA closely follows the pattern established by the RLA, Kaps notes that the two laws are distinguishable in several important areas. The body of legislation governing labor relations in the private sector of the U.S. Kaps examines air transport labor law in the United States as well as the underlying legislative and policy directives established by the federal government.