The Nation : End to Rail Strike Ordered

Congress passed legislation ordering striking Long Island Rail Road employees back to work for a 60-day cooling-off period. The measure, which still must be signed by President Reagan, also empowers the National Mediation Board to appoint a three-member panel to recommend a solution to the impasse by March 7. In New York, a leader of a coalition of four of the remaining striking unions said they might defy any back-to-work order, but a fifth union leader said his members would return to work if so ordered. Rail officials said the nation’s busiest commuter railway could be back in business as early as Friday morning.