45 U.S.C. § 151A
Section 151a · General purposes
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 363 court decisions — leading case Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. v. Norris (1994)
Most recently applied in Dawn Polk v. Amtrak National Railroad Passenger Corporation (April 2023)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (25 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 45 U.S.C. § 151 · 45 U.S.C. § 153 · 45 U.S.C. § 152
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The purposes of the chapter are: (1) To avoid any interruption to commerce or to the operation of any carrier engaged therein; (2) to forbid any limitation upon freedom of association among employees or any denial, as a condition of employment or otherwise, of the right of employees to join a labor organization; (3) to provide for the complete independence of carriers and of employees in the matter of self-organization to carry out the purposes of this chapter; (4) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions; (5) to provide for the prompt and orderly settlement of all disputes growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1934—Act June 21, 1934, reenacted provisions comprising this section without change.