Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and Certain Labor Organizations A dispute exists between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT), and certain labor organizations, designated on the list attached hereto and made a part hereof, representing those employees of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) who are to be transferred to the MTA and CDOT as part of the transfer of commuter rail service responsibility from Conrail to the MTA and CDOT, pursuant to Section 1145 of the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981. The dispute concerns the terms and conditions of new collective bargaining agreements, which were required to be negotiated by September 1, 1982, by Section 510(a) of the Rail Passenger Service Act, as amended ("the Act"). As of this date, the parties have not entered into new collective bargaining agreements, and the MTA and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers have requested the President to establish an emergency board pursuant to Section 510(b) of the Act. Section 510(c) of the Act provides for the President, upon request of a party, to appoint an emergency board to investigate such dispute and to make a report and recommendation for settlement. Now, Therefore, by the authority vested in me by Section 510 of the Rail Passenger Service Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. § 590), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. Establishment of Board. There is established, effective October 1, 1982, a board of three members to be appointed by the President to investigate this dispute. No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any commuter authority providing commuter rail service. The Board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds. 1-102. Public Hearing. The board shall conduct a public hearing on the dispute at which each party shall appear and provide testimony. 1-103. Initial Report. The board shall report on the dispute within 30 days after the date of its creation. 1-104. Final Offers. If the parties have not settled the dispute within ten days after the board's report, the board shall require the parties to submit, within five days, their final offers for settlement of the dispute. 1-105. Final report. Within 15 days after the submission of final offers, the board shall submit a report to the President setting forth its selection of the most reasonable offer. RONALD REAGAN The White House, October 1, 1982. New York/Connecticut: Labor Organizations American Train Dispatchers Association AMTRAK Service Workers Council ARASA Division, Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks Brotherhood Railway Carmen of the United States and Canada Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers International Brotherhood of Teamsters Railroad Yardmasters of America Sheet Metal Workers International Association Transport Workers Union of America United Transportation Union [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9.'36 a.m., October 4, 1982]
Executive Order 12386—Establishment of Emergency Board No. 198 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute
Executive Brief • At a Glance
Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and Certain Labor Organizations A dispute exists between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT), and certain labor organizations, designated on the list attached hereto and made a part hereof, representing those employees of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) who are to be transferred to the MTA and CDOT as part of the transfer of commuter rail service responsibility from Conrail to the MTA and CDOT, pursuant to Section 1145 of the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981.
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Ronald Reagan on October 1, 1982, this order concerns Establishment of Emergency Board No. 198 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute. Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and Certain Labor Organizations A dispute exists between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT), and certain labor organizations, designated on the list attached hereto and made…
Key Directives & Operative Actions
Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and Certain Labor Organizations A dispute exists between the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT), and certain labor organizations, designated on the list attached hereto and made a part hereof, representing those employees of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) who are to be transferred to the MTA and CDOT as part of the transfer of commuter rail service responsibility from Conrail to the MTA and CDOT, pursuant to Section 1145 of the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981.
The dispute concerns the terms and conditions of new collective bargaining agreements, which were required to be negotiated by September 1, 1982, by Section 510(a) of the Rail Passenger Service Act, as amended ("the Act").
As of this date, the parties have not entered into new collective bargaining agreements, and the MTA and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers have requested the President to establish an emergency board pursuant to Section 510(b) of the Act.
Section 510(c) of the Act provides for the President, upon request of a party, to appoint an emergency board to investigate such dispute and to make a report and recommendation for settlement.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
Policy Areas & Topics
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government." — Federalist No. 70 (1788)
Hamilton would view this directive as the natural and indispensable functioning of administrative leadership. Without the power to coordinate agencies, manage personnel, and resolve operational ambiguities, the modern presidency would be reduced to an impotent figurehead.
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,386 (Oct. 1, 1982), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12386-establishment-emergency-board-no-198-investigate-railroad-labor.