members. Name Changes and Final Years The decline of the railroad industry in the 1950s and 1960s led to layoffs and discharges of ORT members. When the ORT attempted to protect its members' jobs by demanding the right to veto job cutbacks, it was accused of "featherbedding," requiring the employment of unnecessary workers, by railroad executives. The ORT called a strike in 1962 to protest layoffs of 600 telegraphers on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. A mediation board created by President John F. Kennedy found in favor of the railroad in October 1962, calling the layoffs justified and denying the union the right to veto layoffs. However, the railroad was required to give 90 days' notice to terminated employees, and to pay laid-off telegraphers 60 percent of their annual salary for as much as five years. In 1965, the ORT changed its name to the Transportation Communications Employees Union; that union was merged into the Brotherhood of Railway & Airline Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express & Station Employees (BRAC) in 1969. At the time of the merger, the ORT had about 30,000 members. In 1985, BRAC chose to revive the TCU identity as the Transportation Communications International Union, and in July 2005, the "new" TCU affiliated with the International Association of Machinists, with full merger to occur no later than January 2012. See also History of rail transport in the United States List of American railway unions Footnotes Further reading Defunct trade unions in the United States History of rail transportation in the United States + Telegraphy Railway unions in the United States Trade unions established in 1886 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Communications trade unions