Railway Labor Executives' Association
| Full name | Railway Labor Executives' Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 18, 1926 |
| Date dissolved | January 1997 |
| Affiliation |
American Federation of Labor (1926-1955) AFL-CIO (1955-1997) |
| Office location | Railway Labor Building, 4001st Street NW, Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was a federation of rail transport labor unions in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1926 with the purpose of acting as a legislative lobbying and policy advisory body. At times, it played a prominent role in setting rail transport policy in the U.S., and was party to six U.S. Supreme Court cases. It disbanded in January 1997, with representation, collective bargaining, and legislative lobbying assumed by the newly formed Rail Division of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department.
The RLEA was distinct from the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (CRLO), a separate association organized in 1991 to serve as an oversight body for the health, welfare, and pension funds established under federal law for railway employees.
The Railway Labor Executives' Association (RLEA) was formed August 16–18, 1926, in Washington, D.C. The membership of the association was the president (or his or her representative) of each member union, and each union received a single vote in the organization's decision-making processes regardless of its size. The president of the Railway Employes' Department, a division of the American Federation of Labor (AFL; and later the AFL-CIO) was also a member and had a vote. The organization was voluntary, which meant that no member was bound by its decisions. However, members were required to submit (for informational purposes only) any federal legislative proposal which might significantly impact the other RLEA member unions. The organization's first chairman (also sometimes called its president) was David B. Robertson of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen & Enginemen. Robertson stepped down to devote more time to his union, and Alexander F. Whitney, President of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, was elected his successor.
Even though the RLEA did not bargain collectively itself, it played a major role in labor negotiations throughout the 1930s. During the decade, the association had about 21 institutional union members. Its chief counsel was Donald Richberg, a noted attorney who helped write the Railway Labor Act of 1926. In 1932, it acted as a coordinating body for unions engaged in national master contract negotiations, and helped the unions stave off major cuts. Over the next several years, it continued to coordinate collective bargaining strategy, and by 1935 the unions had restored the wage cuts incurred in 1932. No additional cuts were made throughout the remainder of the Great Depression. In 1933, the RLEA secured an amendment to the Emergency Railroad Transportation Act (ERTA) of 1933 which required national railroads to limit layoffs due to consolidation. When this amendment expired in June 1936, RLEA worked with its members to negotiate a five-year collective bargaining agreement (the so-called "Washington Job Protection Agreement") which inserted the ERTA labor provisions into the unions' contracts. In 1940, these contracts clauses were enacted into law as part of the Transportation Act of 1940.
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