RLEA Voting Record: How did your U.S. Senators and Congressmen vote?, 1966

Inclusive date range: 1909-1969

Bulk dates: 1945-1966



This collection consists of miscellaneous records from the Railway Labor Executives' Association. The majority of the records found in this collection deal with the issues faced by railroad labor in the 1950s and 1960s when the major carriers began to merge and to abandon lines. The applications of the carriers to the Interstate Commerce Committee [ICC] are documented in the Finance Docket filings. Also of note are the speeches by various railroad labor chief executives in which they speak out against the mergers because of the effect they would have on the nation's economy and on local communities whose tax bases depended on the railroad industry. This collection also contains drafts of a study commissioned by the RLEA about railroad mergers. Also found are public relations materials from the RLEA addressing the mergers as well as pushing back against accusations of featherbedding by the carriers. Finally, the correspondence files contain bulletins and circulars issued by the RLEA about various cases that effect the employees represented by their member unions.