Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate Disputes Between the Long Island Rail Road Company and Certain of Its Employees Represented by Certain Labor Organizations
This Executive Order creates a three-member Emergency Board under section 9A of the Railway Labor Act to investigate ongoing labor disputes between the Long Island Rail Road Company (LIRR) and several of its represented employee groups. The named unions are the Transportation Communications Union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The Board must be appointed by the President, begin work at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 18, 2025, and submit a report to the President within 30 days. The Order also imposes a temporary status‑quo period (no changes in the conditions giving rise to the dispute) for 120 days from the Board’s creation, requires that Board members have no financial or other interests in the railroad or employee organizations, and directs that the Board’s records be maintained by the National Mediation Board after the Board terminates. Publication costs are to be paid by the Department of Transportation. The Board’s report and the 120‑day status‑quo are intended to prevent strikes or unilateral changes while an investigation and recommendations are prepared; the Board’s report itself is advisory, not an immediate binding settlement.
Key Points
- 1Establishes an Emergency Board of three members (a chair plus two others) to investigate LIRR disputes with the five named unions; members are appointed by the President and must have no pecuniary or other interest in carriers or employee organizations.
- 2Effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 18, 2025; the Board must report to the President within 30 days of its creation.
- 3Imposes a 120‑day prohibition on changes to the conditions out of which the disputes arose (commonly called a “maintenance of conditions” or status‑quo period), except by agreement of the parties.
- 4Makes the Board’s records records of the Office of the President and requires that, after the Board ends, records be physically maintained by the National Mediation Board.
- 5The Board terminates once it submits its report; costs of publishing the order are to be borne by the Department of Transportation.