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President Obama has nominated Linda Puchala as a National Mediation Board (NMB) member and appointed Frank Mulvey acting chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB), according to the United Transportation Union.

Currently a senior NMB mediator and associate director of the board’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Services, Puchala’s nomination requires Senate confirmation.

She would take the seat of Read Van de Water, who’s term expired. Puchala would join Harry Hoglander and Elizabeth Dougherty on the three-member board. Puchala joined the NMB in 1999 after an airline career that included a stint as president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO hailed Puchala's nomination.

“Linda is a true professional in the field of labor relations, and has dedicated herself to fostering productive collective bargaining and resolving labor-management disputes,” said TTD President Edward Wytkind in a prepared statement. “The Obama Administration has demonstrated its belief in the importance of a fair and balanced collective bargaining process.”

Meanwhile, Mulvey will succeed former STB Chairman Charles Nottingham, who will continue to serve as a board member until his term expires on Dec. 31, 2010. Mulvey, who joined the STB in 2004, previously was democratic staff director for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's Railroad Subcommittee. Prior to that post, he served the U.S. Department of Transportation as deputy assistant inspector general for rail, transit and special programs, and the U.S. General Accounting Office as assistant director.

President Obama still needs to fill the seat of Douglas Buttrey, who resigned from the STB on March 13.