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Supporting
Statement
Application
for Mediation Services
National
Mediation Board (NMB)
A.
JUSTIFICATION:
Section 5, First, of the Railway
Labor Act, 45 U.S.C., 155, First, provides that both, or either, of
the parties to a labor/management dispute may invoke the mediation
services of the NMB. Congress has determined that it is in the
nation’s best interest to provide for governmental mediation
as the primary dispute resolution mechanism to resolve collective
bargaining disputes in the railroad and airline industries.
The extension of this form is
necessary considering the information provided by the parties is
used by the NMB to structure a mediation process that will be
productive to the parties and result in a settlement hopefully,
without resort to a strike of lockout. The NMB has been very
successful in resolving labor disputes in the railroad and airline
industries. Approximately 97 percent of all labor disputes we have
handled since 1934 have been resolved without an interruption of
transportation services. This success ratio would possibly be
reduced if the NMB was unable to collect the brief information on
the Application for Mediation Services.
There is no improved
technological method for obtaining this information. The burden on
the parties is minimal in completing the one-page Application for
Mediation Services.
There is no duplication in
obtaining this information. The information sought in the
Application for Mediation Services constantly changes and is known
at any given time only to the labor and management parties involved.
Thus, there is no similar information reliable available elsewhere.
This collection does not impact
small businesses or other small entities.
Although the Application for
Mediation Services is required by 29, C.F.R. 1203.1, parties
determine when to submit the applications. The NMB has no ability
to control the frequency of applications or the technical or legal
obstacles, which would reduce the burden.
The information requested by the
NMB is consistent with the general information collection guidelines
of C.F.R. 1320.6. The NMB has no ability to control the data
provided or timing of the invocation. The burden on the parties is
minimal in completing the Application for Mediation Services.
A
notice regarding the Application for Mediation Services was
published in the Federal Register on June 11, 2013, pages 35055 and
35056, for public comment. The NMB did not receive any comments on
this published notice. There have been no recent consultations
regarding the form. (See attached copy of notice.)
No payments or gifts have been
provided by the NMB to any respondents of the form.
Under the NMB’s
regulations, particularly 29 C.F.R. 1208.5, the invocation of
mediation is releasable to a requestor of that information. The
parties are aware, therefore, that this information is not
confidential.
There are no questions of a
sensitive nature on the form.
The
total time
burden on respondents
is 12.50 hours annually – this is the time required to collect
information. After consulting with a sample of people involved with
the collection of this information, the time to complete this
information collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per
response, including gathering the data needed and completion and
review of the information.
1.Number of
respondents per year 50
2.Estimated
time per respondent 15 minutes
3.Total
Burden hours per year 12.50
(50 x .25)
The
total collection
and mail cost burden on respondents
is estimated at $246.00
annually ($225.00 time cost burden + 21.00 mail cost burden.)
The respondents will not
incur any capital costs of start up costs for this collection.
Cost burden on respondents –
detail:
The total time burden
annual cost is $225.00
Time Burden Basis:
the total hourly burden per year, upon respondents, is 12.50.
Staff cost
= $225.00
$18.00 per hour – based on mid level clerical salary
$18.00 x 12.50 hours per year = $225.00
We are estimating that a
mid-level clerical person, with an average salary of $18.00 per hour
will be completing the Application for Mediation Services form. The
total burden is estimated at 12.50 hours, therefore the total time
burden cost is estimated at $225.00 per year.
The collection of this
information is not mandatory; it is a voluntary request from airline
and railroad carrier employees seeking to invoke mediation services.
The
total annual mailing cost to respondents is $23.00
4.Number of
applications mailed by 50
Respondents per year
5.Total
estimated cost $23.00
(50 x .46 stamp)
The
collection of this information is not mandatory; it is a voluntary
request from airline and railroad carrier employees seeking to invoke
mediation services. NMB will send the forms to the carriers and
organizations upon request. The Form is available on the internet
which is now the primary source of the form.
The
total annualized
Federal cost
is
$541.60
– this involves color copying, mailing the forms upon request
of the parties, and processing the Application for Mediation
Services when mediation is invoked. The completed applications are
maintained by the Director, Office of Mediation Services of the NMB.
a. Copy
cost $ 10.00
b. Mailing
costs $ 29.60
Basis
(mail cost): Forms are requested 10 times per year and it takes 5
minutes to prepare the form for mail
Postage cost
= $4.60
10 (times per year) x .46 (cost of postage)
Staff cost
= $25.00
$.50 per minute (GS 9/10 $67,114 = $34.51 per hr.
60)
$.50 x 5 minutes per mailing = $2.50
$2.50 x 10 times per year = $25.00
Total Mailing Costs
= $29.60 ($4.60 + $25.00)
c. Processing
Costs = $500.00
Basis
(processing cost): Mediation is requested approximately 50 times per
year and it takes 20 minutes to process each application
Staff cost
= $500.00
$ .50 per minute (GS 9/10 $67,114 = $34.51 per hr.
60)
$ .50 x 20 minutes per application = $10.00
$10.00 x 50 times per year = $500.00
Item
13 – no change in annual reporting and recordkeeping hour
burden.
The information collected by the
application will not be published.
The NMB will display the OMB
expiration date on the form.
18
(a) – the form does not reduce the burden on small entities;
however, the burden is minimized and voluntary.
18 (b) – the form does
not indicate the retention period for record keeping requirements.
18
(c) - the form is not part of a statistical survey.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | Supporting Statement |
| Author | Murdock, Denise |
| Last Modified By | Denise Murdock |
| File Modified | 2013-07-26 |
| File Created | 2013-02-12 |