Title 49 Employee Protective Arrangements Repeal (HR8232)

Current understanding

HR8232 proposes to repeal certain employee protective arrangements under title 49 of the United States Code, which historically require transit and rail grant recipients to preserve collective bargaining rights, protect workers against a worsening of their positions, and provide priority reemployment and retraining when federal transportation funds are used (commonly known as Section 5333(b) or ‘13©’ protections). For workers, repeal would remove a federally guaranteed floor of labor protections tied to transit/rail funding; for employers and transit agencies, it would ease conditions attached to federal grants. Status: introduced and referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Evidence log

• 2026-04-23 — Protecting American Railroad Workers’ Jobs Act of 2026: cross-connection with protecting-american-railroad-workers-jobs-act: Both bills concern statutory job protections for railroad/transit workers under Title 49 but move in opposite directions — HR8468 aims to reinforce protections while HR8232 would repeal existing employee protective arrangements. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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