
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 45USC158]

 
                           TITLE 45--RAILROADS
 
                        CHAPTER 8--RAILWAY LABOR
 
                    SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL PROVISIONS
 
Sec. 158. Agreement to arbitrate; form and contents; signatures 
        and acknowledgment; revocation
        
    The agreement to arbitrate--
    (a) Shall be in writing;
    (b) Shall stipulate that the arbitration is had under the provisions 
of this chapter;
    (c) Shall state whether the board of arbitration is to consist of 
three or of six members;
    (d) Shall be signed by the duly accredited representatives of the 
carrier or carriers and the employees, parties respectively to the 
agreement to arbitrate, and shall be acknowledged by said parties before 
a notary public, the clerk of a district court or court of appeals of 
the United States, or before a member of the Mediation Board, and, when 
so acknowledged, shall be filed in the office of the Mediation Board;
    (e) Shall state specifically the questions to be submitted to the 
said board for decision; and that, in its award or awards, the said 
board shall confine itself strictly to decisions as to the questions so 
specifically submitted to it;
    (f) Shall provide that the questions, or any one or more of them, 
submitted by the parties to the board of arbitration may be withdrawn 
from arbitration on notice to that effect signed by the duly accredited 
representatives of all the parties and served on the board of 
arbitration;
    (g) Shall stipulate that the signatures of a majority of said board 
of arbitration affixed to their award shall be competent to constitute a 
valid and binding award;
    (h) Shall fix a period from the date of the appointment of the 
arbitrator or arbitrators necessary to complete the board (as provided 
for in the agreement) within which the said board shall commence its 
hearings;
    (i) Shall fix a period from the beginning of the hearings within 
which the said board shall make and file its award: Provided, That the 
parties may agree at any time upon an extension of this period;
    (j) Shall provide for the date from which the award shall become 
effective and shall fix the period during which the award shall continue 
in force;
    (k) Shall provide that the award of the board of arbitration and the 
evidence of the proceedings before the board relating thereto, when 
certified under the hands of at least a majority of the arbitrators, 
shall be filed in the clerk's office of the district court of the United 
States for the district wherein the controversy arose or the arbitration 
was entered into, which district shall be designated in the agreement; 
and, when so filed, such award and proceedings shall constitute the full 
and complete record of the arbitration;
    (l) Shall provide that the award, when so filed, shall be final and 
conclusive upon the parties as to the facts determined by said award and 
as to the merits of the controversy decided;
    (m) Shall provide that any difference arising as to the meaning, or 
the application of the provisions, of an award made by a board of 
arbitration shall be referred back for a ruling to the same board, or, 
by agreement, to a subcommittee of such board; and that such ruling, 
when acknowledged in the same manner, and filed in the same district 
court clerk's office, as the original award, shall be a part of and 
shall have the same force and effect as such original award; and
    (n) Shall provide that the respective parties to the award will each 
faithfully execute the same.
    The said agreement to arbitrate, when properly signed and 
acknowledged as herein provided, shall not be revoked by a party to such 
agreement: Provided, however, That such agreement to arbitrate may at 
any time be revoked and canceled by the written agreement of both 
parties, signed by their duly accredited representatives, and (if no 
board of arbitration has yet been constituted under the agreement) 
delivered to the Mediation Board or any member thereof; or, if the board 
of arbitration has been constituted as provided by this chapter, 
delivered to such board of arbitration.

(May 20, 1926, ch. 347, Sec. 8, 44 Stat. 584; June 21, 1934, ch. 691, 
Sec. 7, 48 Stat. 1197; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, Sec. 32(a), 62 Stat. 991; 
May 24, 1949, ch. 139, Sec. 127, 63 Stat. 107.)

                          Codification

    As originally enacted, par. (d) contained a reference to the 
``circuit court of appeals''. Act June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 
24, 1949, substituted ``court of appeals'' for ``circuit court of 
appeals''.


                               Amendments

    1934--Act June 21, 1934, substituted ``Mediation Board'' for ``Board 
of Mediation'' wherever appearing.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 797g of this title.
