Correspondence file re ORC, BRT vs. ICRR [folder 1 of 2], 1930-1938

This series contain the files documenting some of the legal disputes between the ICRR and the railroad unions. The files contain correspondence, transcripts, legal filings, biographies of various emergency board members, the results of studies conducted in attempts to support various claims by the carrier, awards, and documentation on the results the awards by various boards had on the ICRR.

Of note are the files documenting the hearings before the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1971 in which the ICC claimed jurisdiction over enforcing Equal Employment Opportunity in surface transportation, including the carriers.

The C. T. Earle vs. ICRR Co. files contain the records regarding a suit brought by a switchman, with the support of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, against the ICRR alleging that his seniority rights had been violated. This case became a test case for the ICRR, and twenty-three other similar suits are also documented in this file. One of the cases is also documented in the discrimination files in Series 2.

The remainder of cases are concerned with the issues of crew consist, i.e. how many men it takes to operate a railroad. The dispute between the unions, who did not want any positions to be eliminated, and the carriers, who argued that the crew consists were outdated and not reflective of modern railroad practices, eventually culminated in the need for Emergency Board 172's intervention. A brief summary of the labor disputes leading up to the creation of this board may be found in the Affidavit of James E. Wolfe. As part of preparing for the hearing in front of this board, the ICRR employed a University of Chicago professor , Dr. Benjamin King, to design a Crew Consist Time and Motion Study. The study was functionally executed by John Roberts and other ICRR employees. The results of this study, as well as charts, IBM printouts, and graphs containing all of the raw data gathered..