§ 5(2)(f) notwithstanding proviso (railroad merger employee protection)

The purpose of § 5(2)(f) was not to freeze jobs but to provide compensatory conditions. When there is a collective agreement and the Commission adopts or approves it, the collective agreement becomes a condition of the Commission's approval of the consolidation and its provisions are deemed a fair and equitable arrangement to protect the interests of the employees within the meaning of the first sentence of § 5(2)(f). The significance of the notwithstanding proviso is that it provides the machinery for the terms of a pre-merger collective agreement and thus supplies the minimum measure of fairness required under the first sentence of § 5(2)(f). An agreement made pursuant to the last sentence of § 5(2)(f) may vary the protections afforded by the I.C.C. order, but it may not substantially abrogate employees' rights grounded in an I.C.C. order.