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l - 37- /n 'i MEMORANDUM
Washington October 4, 1937.
TO Mr. Schreiber
FROM Mr. Simms
SUBJECT Status under the Railroad Retirement Act of the Tulsa Union Depot Company.
The information contained herein, serving as a basis for an opinion with respect to the status under the Railroad Retirement Act of the Tulsa Union Depot Company, was furnished us under date of Sep tember 13, by the company itself in response to our questionnaire LQ.-2.
The Tulsa Union Depot Company, hereinafter referred to as the Depot Company, was incorporated on May 2, 1929, in the State of Dela ware. It was not a consolidated, merging or reorganized company, and has not at any time operated under any other name. It was organized for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating^a union pas senger station and facilities at Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has always ad- hered- fo~Tts-etIginal purposes since it opened for business on May 10, 1931.
The Depot Company is controlled by the St. Louis-san Francisco Railway Company; the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Missouri-Kanses-lexas Railway Company, such control having been ac quired on May 2, 1929. It is direct, joint, and one hundred per cent, each controlling company owning one-third of the stock.
The company has at no time been under common control with any express company, sleeping car company, or carrier by railroad.
Since the date of its organization the President of the Depot Company has been the chief operating officer of the St. Louis-San Fran cisco Railway Company; the Vice Presidents of the Company have been the Assistant General Manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway com pany and the Assistant to the Trustee of the St. Louis-san Francisco Railway Company, respectively; the secretary and treasurer have been treasurer and assistant treasurer of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company; its General Counsel has been general attorney for the St. Louis- San Francisco Railway company; its Chief Engineer the chief engineer of that company; and its Auditor, General Claim Agent and paymaster have each occupied similar positions with the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company
A The Depot Company’s three directors have been respectively, since the date of its organization, the chief operating officer of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, the Assistant General Manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and the Vice-President and General Manager of the Missourl-Kansas-Texas Railway Company.
The company operates facilities in the form of a passenger union station at Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the St. Louis-San Fran cisco Railway Company, the Atchison, Topeka &. Santa Fe Railway company, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway company.
The company operates facilities in the form of a passenger union station at Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the St. Louis-san Fran cisco Railway Company; the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Missouri-Kensas-Texas Railway Company. Such facilities have been operated by it for these railroads as joint tenants since the date the depot opened for business May 10, 1931. This operation includes the sale of tickets, handling of mail and baggage, and other incidental services common to union stations.
The Depot Company neither owns nor uses railroad trackage, nor does it own or use railroad equipment. It sells interline tickets for the above controlling companies.
The Depot Company receives no revenues from facilities, such fa cilities being under lease to the three controlling carriers as joint tenants and for whom the facilities are operated by the Depot Company. The tenant carriers assume all the expenses and receive all the revenue from the ticket sales, et cetera.
The Depot Company is not a member of any railway organization. It is not subject to the Interstate Commerce Act, and consequently does not file any reports with the Commission. It advises that the National Mediation Board, however, has assumed jurisdiction in labor disputes and that its employees are members of the Brotherhood of Railway and steam ship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and station Employees.
The President of the company, H. L. Worman, expressed the opinion that the Depot Company is an employer, subject to the provisions of the Railroad Retirement Act and always has been, since its creation.
The foregoing facts indicate that the Tulsa union Depot Company is jointly controlled by three carriers by railroad, subject to the inter state Commerce Act, and that it is operating facilities in connection with the transportation of the controlling companies. It is, therefore, in my opinion, an employer within the meaning of the Railroad Retirement ♦
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Act, end I recommend that service rendered to it be creditable towards annuities from the present time back to the date of its incorporation, May 2, 1929,
(SIGNED) Beverley S. Simms.
B3S:MSR
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