Public, No. 70 (85th Cong.) To amend the Act of December 2, 1942 and the Act of August 16, 1941, relating to injury, disability, and death resulting from war-risk hazards and from employment, suffered by em- ployees of contractors of the United States___ Public, No. 71 (85th Cong.) To amend the Federal Employees Compensa- tion Act to provide compensation for employees of the United States suffering injuries from war-risk hazards or during detention by a hos- Public, No. 165 (85th Cong.) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to the readjustment of tax in the case of certain amounts received for breach of contract_. Public, No. 231 (85th Cong.) To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, to restrict its application in certain overseas areas__ Public, No. 836 (85th Cong.) To provide for registration, reporting, and disclosure of employee welfare and pension benefit plans_. Public, No. 1 (86th Cong.) Fixing the representation of the majority and minority membership of the Joint Economic Committee_. Public, No. 89 (86th Cong.) To extend the Renegotiation Act of 1951_- Public, No. 135 (86th Cong.) To eliminate all responsibility of the Gov- ernment for fixing dates on which the period of limitation for filing suits against Miller Act payment bonds commence to run__ Public, No. 280 (86th Cong.) To extend the period for filing claims for credit or refund of overpayments of income taxes arising as a result of renegotiation of Government contracts___. Public, No. 257 (86th Cong.) Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Public, No. 739 (86th Cong.) To provide for the restoration to the United States of amounts expended in the District of Columbia in carrying out the Temporary Unemployment Compensation Act of 1958. Public, No. 767 (86th Cong.) To amend the Federal Employees Compensa- tion Act to make benefits more realistic in terms of present wage rates__ Public, No. 27 (87th Cong.) The Area Redevelopment Act---- Public, No. 49 (87th Cong.) To amend section 4 of the Employment Act Public, No. 258 (87th Cong.) To provide for the defense of suits against Federal employees arising out of their operation of motor vehicles in the Public, No. 339 (87th Cong.) To amend the Federal Employees Compensa- 785 [PUBLIO NO. 304.] An act to create boards of arbitration or commission for settling controversies and differences between railroad corporations and other common carriers engaged in interstate and Territorial transportation of property or passengers and their employees. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever differences or controversies arise between railroad or other transportation companies engaged in the transportation of property or passengers between two or more States of the United States, between a Territory and State, within the Territories of the United States, or within the District of Columbia, and the employees of said railroad companies, which differences or controversies may hinder, impede, obstruct, interrupt, or affect such transportation of property or pas sengers, if, upon the written proposition of either party to the controversy to submit their differences to arbitration, the other party shall accept the proposition, then and in such event the railroad company is hereby authorized to select and appoint one person, and such employee or employees, as the case may be, to select and appoint another person, and the two persons thus selected and appointed to select a third person, all three of whom shall be citizens of the United States and wholly impartial and disinterested in respect to such differences or controversies; and the three persons thus selected and appointed shall be, and they are hereby, created and constituted a board of arbitration, with the duties, powers, and privileges hereinafter set forth. SEC. 2. That the board of arbitration provided for in the first section of this act shall possesss all the powers and authority in respect to administering oaths, subpoenaing witnesses and compelling their attendance, preserving order during the sittings of the board, and requiring the production of papers and writings relating alone to the subject under investigation now possessed and belonging to United States commissioners appointed by the circuit court of the United States; but in no case shall any witness be compelled to disclose the secrets or produce the records or proceedings of any labor organization of which he may be an officer or member; and said board of arbitration may appoint a clerk and employ a stenographer, and prescribe all reasonable rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, looking to the speedy advancement of the differences and controversies submitted to them to a conclusion and determination. Each of said arbitrators shall take an oath to honestly, fairly, and faithfully perform his duties, and that he is not personally interested in the subject-matter in controversy, which oath may be administered by any State or Territorial officer authorized to administer oaths. The third person so selected and appointed as aforesaid shall be the president of said board; and any order, finding, conclusion, or award made by a majority of such arbitrators shall be of the same force and effect as if all three of such arbitrators concurred therein or united in making the same. SEO. 8. That it shall be the duty of said board of arbitration, immediately upon their selection, to organize at the nearest practicable point to the place of the origin of the difficulty or controversy, and to hear and determine the matters of difference which may be submitted to them in writing by all the parties, giving them full opportunity to be heard on oath, in person and by witnesses, and also granting them the right to be represented by counsel; and after concluding its investigation said board shall publicly announce its decision, which, with the findings of fact upon which it is based, shall be reduced to writing and signed by the arbitrators concurring therein, and, together with the testimony taken in the case, shall be filed with the Commissioner of Labor of the United States, who shall make such decision public as soon as the same shall have been received by him. SEO. 4. That it shall be the right of any employees engaged in the controversy to appoint, by designation in writing, one or more persons to act for them in the selection of an arbitrator to represent them upon the board of arbitration. SEO. B. That each member of said tribunal of arbitration shall receive a compensation of ten dollars a day for the time actually employed. That the clerk appointed by said tribunal of arbitration shall receive the same fees and compensation as clerks of United States circuit courts and district courts receive for like services. That the stenographer shall receive as full compensation for his services ten cents for each folio of an hundred words of testimony taken and reduced to writing before said arbitrators. That United States marshals or other persons serving the process of said tribunal of arbitration shall receive the same fees and compensation for such services as they would receive for like services upon process issued by United States commissioners. That witnesses attending before said tribunal of arbitration shall receive the same fees as witnesses attending before United States commissioners. That all of said fees and compensation shall be payable by the United States in like manner as fees and compensation are payable in criminal causes under existing laws: Provided, That the said tribunal of arbitration shall have power to limit the number of witnesses in each case where fees shall be paid by the United States. And provided further, That the fees and compensation of the arbitrators, clerks, stenographers, marshals, and others for service of process, and witnesses under this act shall be examined and certified by the United States district judge of the district in which the arbitration is held before they are presented to the accounting officers of the Treasury Department for settlement, and shall then be subject to the provisions of section eight hundred and forty-six of the Revised Statutes of the United States; and a sufficient sum of money to pay all expenses under this act and to carry the same into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. And provided likewise not more than five thousand dollars shall be expended in defraying the costs of any single investigation by the commission hereinafter provided for. SEO. 6. That the President may select two commissioners, one of whom at least shall be a resident of the State or Territory in which the controversy arises, who, together with the Commissioner of Labor, shall constitute a temporary commission for the purpose of examining the causes of the controversy, the conditions accompanying, and the best means for adjusting it; the result of which examination shall be immediately reported to the President and Congress, and on the rendering of such report the services of the two commis sioners shall cease. The services of the commission, to be ordered at the time by the President and constituted as herein provided, may be tendered by the President for the purpose of settling a controversy such as contemplated, either upon his own motion, or upon the application of one of the parties to the controversy, or upon the application of the executive of a State. SEC. 7. That the commissioners provided in the preceding section shall be entitled to receive ten dollars each per day for each day's service rendered, and the expenses absolutely incurred in the performance of their duties; and the expenses of the Commissioner of Labor, acting as one of the commission, shall also be reimbursed to him. Such compensation and expenses shall be paid by the Treasurer of the United States, on proper vouchers, certified to by the Commissioner of Labor and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 8. That upon the direction of the President, as herein before provided, the commission shall visit the locality of the pending dispute, and shall have all the powers and authority given in section 2, to a board of arbitration, and shall make careful inquiry into the cause thereof, hear all persons interested therein who may come before it, advise the respective parties what, if anything, ought to be done or submitted to by either or both to adjust such dispute, and make a written decision thereof. This decision shall at once be made public, shall be recorded upon proper books of record to be kept in the office of the Commissioner of Labor, who shall cause a copy thereof to be filed with the secretary of the State or Territory, or States or Territories, in which the controversy exists. SEC. 9. That in each case the commissioners who may be selected as provided shall, before entering upon their duties, be sworn to the faithful discharge thereof. The Commissioner of Labor shall be chairman ex officio of the commission, and may appoint one or more clerks or stenographers to act in each controversy only, which clerks or stenographers shall be compensated at a rate not exceeding six dollars per day each, and actual expenses incurred shall be reimbursed. SEC. 10. The Commissioner of Labor shall, as soon as possible after the passage of this act, establish such rules of procedure as shall be approved by the President; but the commission shall permit each party to a controversy to appear in person or by counsel, and to examine and cross-exime witnesses. All its proceedings shall be transacted in public, except when in consultation for the purpose of deciding upon the evidence and arguments laid before it. The chairman of the commission is hereby authorized to administer oaths to witnesses in all investigations conducted by the commission, and such witnesses shall be subpanied in the same manner as witnesses are subpœnied to appear before United States courts and commissioners, and they shall each receive the same fees as witnesses attending before United States commissioners: Provided, That said temporary board of commissioners shall have power to limit the number of witnesses in each case where fees shall be paid by the United States. SEC. 11. All fees, expenses, and compensation of this commission shall be paid as hereinbefore provided in section five of this act. Approved October 1, 1888. 76573°-61-2 |