Establishing an Emergency Board to Investigate a Dispute Between the Long Island Rail Road and Certain Labor Organizations A dispute exists between The Long Island Rail Road and certain labor organizations, designated on the list attached hereto and made a part hereof, representing employees of The Long Island Rail Road. The dispute has not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended ("the Act"). The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the parent body of The Long Island Rail Road, has requested that the President establish an emergency board pursuant to Section 9A of the Act. Section 9A(c) of the Act provides that the President, upon request of a party, shall appoint an emergency board to investigate and report on the dispute. Now, Therefore, by the authority vested in me by Section 9A of the Act, as amended (45 U.S.C. § 159a), it is hereby ordered as follows: 1-101. Establishment of Board. There is established, effective November 16, 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 carrier. The board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds. 1-102. Report. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the dispute within 30 days after the date of its creation. 1-103. Maintaining Conditions. As provided by Section 9A(c) of the Act, as amended, from the date of the creation of the Emergency Board, and for 120 days thereafter, no change, except by agreement of the parties, shall be made by the carrier or the employees, in the conditions out of which the dispute arose. 1-104. Expiration. The Emergency Board shall terminate ninety (90) days after the submission of the report provided for in paragraph 1-102 of this Order. RONALD REAGAN The White House, November 16, 1982. Labor Organizations ARASA Division, Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Brotherhood of Railway, Airline and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes 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 Police Benevolent Association Railroad Yardmasters of America Sheet Metal Workers International Association United Transportation Union [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:17 a. m., November 17, 1982]
Executive Order 12393 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
Executive Order 12393—Establishment of Emergency Board No. 199 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (415 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
There is established, effective November 16, 1982, a board of three members to be appointed by the President to investigate this dispute.
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §1: Executive Discretion & Internal Operations
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Executive Branch Departments General Body of the People
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 November 16, 1982, this order concerns Establishment of Emergency Board No. 199 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute. 1-101. Establishment of Board. There is established, effective November 16, 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 carrier. The board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds. 1-102. Report.
Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
▪
There is established, effective November 16, 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 carrier.
▪
The board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds. 1-102.
▪
The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to the dispute within 30 days after the date of its creation. 1-103.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Executive Branch Departments
🏛️ General Body of the People
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.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"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."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
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.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH
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.
Hamiltonian Stance: Defends Vigor & Dispatch
GM
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.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
43 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Moderate Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Moderate Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Moderate Friction
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.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
415
2,718 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
15.9
College Level
Text size:
Related Executive Orders
Other executive actions signed by Ronald Reagan around this period.
EO 12392 Nov 15, 1982
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12392—International Financial Institutions
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
The functions vested in the President by Section 129 of Public Law 97-276 (October 2, 1982) are delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury.
Ronald Reagan College Level • 1m
EO 12394 Nov 18, 1982
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12394—Incentive Pay for Hazardous Duty
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order No. 11157 of June 22, 1964, as amended, is further amended by striking out subsection (f) of Section 109 of Part I and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "(f) The term "duty involving frequent and regular participation in flight operations on the flight…
Ronald Reagan Post-Graduate Legal • 3m
EO 12395 Nov 20, 1982
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Fidelity (+0.29)
Executive Order 12395—International Private Enterprise Task Force
📜 5th Amend: Regulatory Execution with Due Process
Section I. Establishment. (a) There is established the International Private Enterprise Task Force. The Task Force shall be composed of no more than twenty-one members who shall be appointed by the President from among leaders in the private sector.
Ronald Reagan College Level • 2m
EO 12391 Nov 4, 1982
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12391—Partial Suspension of Federal Service Labor-Management Relations
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
With regard to United States citizen employees of the Department of Defense, including the Military Departments, who are employed outside the United States as defined in 5 U.S.C. 7103 (a) (18), with the exception of those employed in the Republic of Panama: (a) The provisions…
Ronald Reagan Post-Graduate Legal • 2m
EO 12390 Oct 25, 1982
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12390—Delegation to the Secretary of State
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
The functions vested in the President by Section 306 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-257) are delegated to the Secretary of State. Sec. 2.
Ronald Reagan High School • 1m
EO 12389 Oct 25, 1982
🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority) Constitutional Neutral
Executive Order 12389—Amending the Generalized System of Preferences
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
In order to subdivide and amend the nomenclature of existing items for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the Tariff Schedules of the United States (TSUS) (19 U.S.C. 1202) are modified as provided in Annex I to this Order, attached hereto and made a part…
Ronald Reagan High School • 4m
📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 12,393 (Nov. 16, 1982), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12393-establishment-emergency-board-no-199-investigate-railroad-labor.
