NARR
National
Association of Railroad Referees
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NARRator
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RAILROAD REFEREES
MARCH 2003
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Frank X. Quinn, President
Ann Kenis, Secretary-Treasurer
M. David Vaughn, President Emeritus
Anna DuVal Smith, Gatekeeper |
James E. Conway, Vice President
John La Rocco, Vice President
Edward L. Suntrup, Vice President
Elizabeth Wesman, Vice President
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NARR MEMBERSHIP DRIVE INCREASES
OUR NUMBERS
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The question at issue is whether
NARR should expand its membership to include airline
referees.
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HERB MARX ARGUES "YES"
After ten years of growth to
nearly complete membership among railroad referees
and to full acceptance by and cooperative
ventures with the NMB and the parties, NARR should
consider this new opportunity to become an even more
effective major organization in labor-management
relations. The merits: (1) Our cordial
relationship with NMB board members and staff will
be enhanced by becoming an organization of all neutrals
working under the RLA. (2) For neutrals whose
practice currently includes railroad or airline
disputes, but not both, opportunity for service will
be increased through mutual exchange of knowledge
and experience. (3) Given current airline
industry moves to seek RLA revision, we can make
ourselves fully aware of and play a meaningful role
in such proposed changes. (4) Recognizing that
railroad dispute resolution differs significantly
from airline dispute resolution, we can accommodate
this by some concurrent specialized sessions in our
meetings and initiating more diverse ongoing activities.
In fact, growth in membership might make local or
regional meetings feasible. In sum, we open
new avenues for professional expertise, while
retaining the integrity of a specialized group (RLA
dispute resolution) and thus in reality and
appearance not be in conflict with the National
Academy of Arbitrators and other more generally
focused organizations.
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BARRY SIMON ARGUES "NO"
Expanding NARR's membership to
include airline referees may appear to be a logical
extension because we are both subject to the RLA,
but we
really operate in different worlds. The
airline industry is nothing like the railroad
industry and there is generally no commonality of
representation. Consequently, at our annual
program meetings, we would have partisans attending
who have little or no interest in the substantive
issues facing the other industry. Consider
that the airline industry does not have a history of
national bargaining, and safety regulation is the
responsibility of two distinct federal
agencies. In addition, do the airlines have
anything like New York Dock? There is no
national forum in the airline industry comparable to
the NRAB and airline hearings are de novo. The
neutrals are not subject to the NMB's limitations on
work time nor the payment provisions of Section
3. Except for those few neutrals who have done
emergency Board work in the airline industry, the
existence of the NMB is inconsequential. One
of my fears is that the airline people will look at
this only as a way for the railroad referees to seek
work opportunities. That is not the image we
should convey. When I was an advocate, I
belonged to the Conference of Railroad and Airline
Labor Lawyers. What brought this group
together was the common interest created by Section
6 of the RLA. We had little, if any,
discussion on arbitration issues.
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