CLEVELAND, March 1 – Representative Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has thanked the National Mediation Board for its handling of contract negotiations between rail labor and rail carriers.
“I appreciate the National Mediation Board’s recent ruling requiring both parties to continue their negotiations,” King wrote in a letter to National Mediation Board Chairman Read Van de Water. “It is my hope that with your continued leadership these negotiations can be completed without Congressional intervention.”
Representative King’s support is significant for Rail Labor because of his committee’s influence on national security issues.
After less than a year of bargaining, the carriers requested release from mediation in late 2005 in hopes of obtaining a congressionally-imposed settlement. The NMB requested that the carriers to return to the bargaining table and, after significant pressure from rail labor, the carriers withdrew their request.
Representative King’s letter comes after letters in support of continued negotiations by two other key members of Congress, Representatives Don Young (R-AK) and Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio). Representative Young is the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Representative LaTourette is the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads.