[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR202.15]

[Page 164-165]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 202--EMPLOYERS UNDER THE ACT--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 202.15  Railway labor organizations.

    Railway labor organizations, national in scope, which have been or 
may be organized in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor 
Act, as amended, and their State and National legislative committees and 
their general committees and their insurance departments and their local 
lodges and divisions, established pursuant to the constitution and 
bylaws of such organizations, shall be employers within the meaning of 
the act.
    (a) An organization doing business on or after June 21, 1934, which 
establishes, in accordance with paragraph (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this 
section a right, under section 3 ``First'' (a) of the Railway Labor Act, 
as amended (48 Stat. 1189; 45 U.S.C. 153 ``First'' (a)), to participate 
in the selection of labor members of the National Railroad Adjustment 
Board, will be presumed, in the absence of clear and convincing evidence 
to the contrary, to be, from and after the date on which such right is 
thus established, a labor organization, national in scope and organized 
in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended. 
Such an organization can establish that it is an employer by 
establishing, in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, that, as 
a labor organization, national in scope and organized in accordance with 
the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, it is a ``railway'' 
organization. An organization, doing business on or after June 21, 1934, 
which has not established such a right of participation, will be 
presumed not to be a labor organization, national in scope and organized 
in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, 
and such presumption can be rebutted only by clear and convincing 
evidence satisfactory to the Board showing that the reasons for the 
organization's failure to establish such a right have no relation to its 
being a labor organization, national in scope and organized in 
accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended. 
Only after such presumption has thus been rebutted will further evidence 
as to whether the organization is an employer be considered. (The 
establishment or nonestablishment of such a right of participation will 
not raise any presumption as to whether an organization is, or is not, a 
``railway'' organization. The existence of this qualification shall be 
determined in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section.) An

[[Page 165]]

organization will have established such a right of participation if:
    (1) It has in fact participated in the selection of labor members of 
the National Railroad Adjustment Board and has continued to participate 
in such selection; or
    (2) It has been found, under section 3 ``First'' (f) of the Railway 
Labor Act, as amended (48 Stat. 1190; 45 U.S.C. 153 ``First'' (f)), to 
be qualified to participate in the selection of labor members of the 
National Railroad Adjustment Board; or
    (3) It is recognized by all organizations, qualified under 
paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section, as having the right to 
participate in the selection of labor members of the National Railroad 
Adjustment Board.
    (b) The question as to whether a labor organization, national in 
scope, and organized in accordance with the provisions of the Railway 
Labor Act, as amended, is, as such a national labor organization, a 
``railway'' labor organization, will be determined by the Board on the 
basis of considerations such as the following:
    (1) The extent to which it is, and has been recognized as, 
representative of crafts or classes of employees in the railroad 
industry.
    (2) The extent to which its purposes and business are and have been 
to promote the interests of employees in the railroad industry.
    (c) A labor organization which ceased doing business before June 21, 
1934, will have been an employer if its characteristics were 
substantially the same as those of labor organizations, doing business 
on or after June 21, 1934, which are established as employers in 
accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.
    (d) An organization which establishes, to the satisfaction of the 
Board, that it is a labor organization, as defined in paragraph (e) of 
this section, and that is composed of labor organizations which are 
established as employers in accordance with paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) 
of this section, is thereby established as being an employer.
    (e) For the purposes of the regulations in this chapter, a labor 
organization is an organization whose business is to promote the 
interests of employees in their capacity as employees, either directly 
or through their organizations.