his right of retirement, or any right to health, disability, or death insurance benefits has accrued, under any agreement or plan of any carrier which is a party to the consolidation or merger, pension, health, disability, or death insurance benefits, as the case may be, shall be accorded in conformity with the agreement or plan under which such individual exercised such right of retirement or under which such right to benefits accrued. For purposes of determining and according the rights and benefits specified in this paragraph, any period spent in the employ of the carrier of which such individual was an employee at the time of the consolidation or merger shall be considered to have been spent in the employ of the consolidated or merged carrier. The application for approval of any consolidation or merger under this section shall contain a guaranty by the proposed consolidated carrier that there will be no impairment of any of the rights or benefits specified in this paragraph.

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(6) Any employee who, since August 27, 1940, has left a position, other than a temporary position, in the employ of any carrier which is a party to any such consolidation or merger, for the purpose of entering the military or naval forces of the United States, shall be considered to have been in the employ of such carrier during the time he is a member of such forces, and, upon making an application for employment with the consolidated or merged carrier within forty days from the time he is relieved from service in any of such forces under honorable conditions, such former employee shall be employed by the consolidated or merged carrier and entitled to the benefits to which he would have been entitled if he had been employed by one of such carriers during all of such period of service with such forces; except that this paragraph shall not require the consolidated or merged carrier, in the case of any such individual, to pay compensation, or to accord health, disability, or death insurance benefits, for the period during which he was a member of such forces. If any such former employee is disabled and because of such disability is no longer qualified to perform the duties of his former position but otherwise meets the requirements for employment, he shall be given such available employment at an appropriate rate of compensation as he is able to perform and to which his service credit shall entitle him.

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(7) No employee of any carrier which is a party to any such consolidation or merger shall, without his consent, have his compensation reduced, or (except as provided in paragraph (2) and paragraph (8) of this subsection) be discharged or furloughed during the four-year period after the date of the approval of such consolidation or merger. No such employee shall, without his consent, have his compensation reduced, or be discharged or furloughed, in contemplation of such consolidation and merger, during the six-month period immediately preceding such approval.

"(8) Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the discharge of any employee for insubordination, incompetency, or any other similar cause.

"(9) All employees of any carrier resulting from any such consolidation or merger, with respect to their hours of employment, shall retain the rights provided by any collective bargaining agreement in force and effect upon the date of approval of such consolidation or merger until such`agreement is terminated, executed, or superseded.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any agreement not prohibited by law pertaining to the protection of employees may hereafter be entered into by such consolidated or merged carrier and the duly authorized representative or representatives of its employees selected according to existing law.

"(10) For purposes of enforcement or protection of rights, privileges, and immunities granted or guaranteed under this subsection, the employees of any such consolidated or merged carrier shall be entitled to the same remedies as are provided by the National Labor Relations Act in the case of employees covered by that Act; and the National Labor Relations Board and the courts of the United States (including the courts of the District of Columbia) shall have jurisdiction and power to enforce and protect such rights, privileges, and immunities in the same manner as in the case of enforcement of the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act.

"(11) Nothing contained in this subsection shall apply to any employee of any carrier which is a party to any such consolidation or merger whose compensation is at the rate of more than $5,000 per

annum.

"(12) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (7), the protection afforded therein for the period of four years from the date of approval of the consolidation or merger shall not, in the case of any particular employee, continue for a longer period, following such date of approval, than the aggregate period during which such employee was in the employ, prior to such date of approval, of one or more of the carriers which are parties to the consolidation or merger. As used in paragraphs (1), (2), and (7), the term 'compensation' shall not include compensation attributable to overtime not guaranteed by collective bargaining agreements."

SEC. 2. Section 214 (a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 214. (a) No carrier shall undertake the construction of a new line or of an extension of any line, or shall acquire or operate any line, or extension thereof, or shall engage in transmission over or by means of such additional or extended line, unless and until there shall first have been obtained from the Commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require the construction, or operation, or construction and operation, of such additional or extended line: Provided, That no such certificate shall be required under this section for the construction, acquisition, or operation of (1) a line within a single State unless such line consitutes part of an interstate line, (2) local, branch, or terminal lines not exceeding ten miles in length, or (3) any line acquired under section 221 or 222 of this Act: Provided further, That the Commission may, upon appropriate request being made, authorize temporary or emergency service, or the supplementing of existing facilities, without regard to the provisions of this section. No carrier shall discontinue, reduce, or impair service to a community, or part of a community, unless and until there shall first have been obtained from the Commission a certificate that neither the present nor future public convenience and necessity will be adversely affected thereby; except that the Commission may, upon appropriate request being made, authorize temporary or emergency discontinuance, reduction,

or impairment of service, or partial discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service, without regard to the provisions of this section. As used in this section the term 'line' means any channel of communication established by the use of appropriate equipment, other than a channel of communication established by the interconnection of two or more existing channels: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be construed to require a certificate or other authorization from the Commission for any installation, replacement, or other changes in plant, operation, or equipment, other than new construction, which will not impair the adequacy or quality of service provided."

SEC. 3. Section 214 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(b) Upon receipt of an application for any such certificate, the Commission shall cause notice thereof to be given to, and shall cause a copy of such application to be filed with, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Governor of each State in which such line is proposed to be constructed, extended, acquired, or operated, or in which such discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service is proposed, with the right to those notified to be heard; and the Commission may require such published notice as it shall determine."

SEC. 4. Section 214 (c) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(c) The Commission shall have power to issue such certificates as applied for, or to refuse to issue it, or to issue it for a portion or portions of a line, or extension thereof, or discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service, described in the application, or for the partial exercise only of such right or privilege, and may attach to the issuance of the certificate such terms and conditions as in its judgment the public convenience and necessity may require. After issuance of such certificate, and not before, the carrier may, without securing approval other than such certificate, comply with the terms and conditions contained in or attached to the issuance of such certificate and proceed with the construction, extension, acquisition, operation, or discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service covered thereby. Any construction, extension, acquisition, operation, discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service contrary to the provisions of this section may be enjoined by any court of competent jurisdiction at the suit of the United States the Commission, the State commission, any State affected, or any party in interest."

SEC. 5. Section 214 (d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(d) The Commission may, after full opportunity for hearing, in a proceeding upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint, authorize or require by order any carrier, party to such proceeding, to provide itself with adequate facilities for the expeditious and efficient performance of its service as a common carrier and to extend its line or to establish a public office; but no such authorization or order shall be made unless the Commission finds, as to such provision of facilities, as to such establishment of public office, or as to such extension, that it is reasonably required in the interest of public convenience and necessity, or as to such extension or facilities that the

expense involved therein will not impair the ability of the carrier to perform its duty to the public. Any carrier which refuses or neglects to comply with any order of the Commission made in pursuance of this paragraph shall forfeit to the United States $100 for each day during which such refusal or neglect continues."

SEC. 6. Section 5266 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1940 edition, title 47, sec. 3), is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5266. Telegrams between the several departments of the Government and their officers, relating exclusively to the public business, in their transmission over the lines of any telegraph company to which has been given the right-of-way, timber, or station lands from the public domain, shall have priority over all other business at such rates as the Federal Communications Commission shall annually fix. No part of any appropriation for the several departments of the Government shall be paid to any company which neglects or refuses to transmit such telegrams in accordance with the provisions of this section: Provided, That nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Federal Communications Commission, under section 201 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the classification of communications and the prescribing of different charges for different classes of communications, and such authority of the Federal Communications Commission to fix rates for Government communications may be exercised with respect to any or all communications to which section 201 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and this section apply: Provided further, That the term 'Government' as used in section 201 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and the term 'departments of the Government' as used in this section, shall be held to refer only to the established departments, independent establishments, and agencies in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the Federal Government." Approved, March 6, 1943.

[PUBLIC LAW 85-78TH CONGRESS]
[CHAPTER 137-1ST SESSION]

[H. R. 2750]

AN ACT

To amend section 353 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 353 (b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (50 Stat. 193, 55 Stat. 579; U. S. C., 1940 edition, title 47, sec. 353 (b)), as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(b) A cargo ship, required by this part to be fitted with a radio installation, which is fitted with an autoalarm in accordance with this title, shall, for safety purposes, carry at least one qualified operator who shall have had at least six months' previous service in the aggregate as a qualified operator in a station on board a ship or ships of the United States, but during the emergency proclaimed by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, but not after the termination of such emergency or such earlier date as Congress by concurrent resolution may designate, the aforesaid requirement of six months' previous service may be suspended or modified by regulation or order of the Commission for successive periods of not more than six months' duration."

Approved, June 22, 1943.

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