This executive order establishes an emergency board to investigate labor disputes between the Long Island Rail Road Company and employees represented by five labor organizations: 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 order invokes authority under section 9A of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which mandates presidential appointment of an emergency board when requested by parties empowered under the Act. The order characterizes these disputes as unresolved through normal RLA adjustment procedures, necessitating this federal intervention to prevent potential disruptions to commuter rail service in the New York metropolitan area.
The order directs the establishment of a three-member emergency board, consisting of a chair and two additional members appointed by the President, effective 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 18, 2025. The board members must be impartial, with no pecuniary or other interests in railroad employee organizations or carriers. The board is tasked with investigating the disputes and submitting a report to the President within 30 days of its creation. Importantly, the emergency board can only investigate and report—it cannot impose contract terms, compel arbitration, or mandate settlement. The only binding effect is the 120-day cooling-off period mandated by section 9A(c) of the RLA, during which neither the railroad company nor the labor organizations may alter the conditions that gave rise to the disputes except by mutual agreement. This statutory freeze mechanism aims to maintain operational stability while the investigation proceeds and parties consider the board's non-binding recommendations.
Implementation responsibility falls primarily to the President for appointing board members, with the National Mediation Board designated to maintain physical custody of the board's records and files after its termination. The board operates subject to funding availability and automatically terminates upon submission of its report. The 30-day reporting deadline means the board's findings should be delivered by mid-October 2025, after which the 120-day status quo period would extend through mid-January 2026. Absent voluntary agreement, both sides may lawfully proceed to strike or lockout beginning 120 days after board creation, with remaining policy options limited to voluntary arbitration, negotiated extension of the status quo, or potential congressional intervention—making intergovernmental coordination with New York State and the MTA critical for contingency planning and stakeholder communications.