Newhouse pushes anti-labor longshore bill to counter port slowdowns

Newhouse pushes anti-labor longshore bill to counter port slowdowns
http://union-bulletin.com/news/2015/nov/13/newhouse-pushes-bill-counter-...
Richard Byrd
Columbia Basin Herald
Friday, November 13, 2015

WASHINGTON — Rep. Dan Newhouse has proposed federal legislation that would put in place new economic safeguards to prevent future slowdowns at ports.

The Yakima Valley Republican, along with Rep. Kurt Schrader, an Oregon Democrat, introduced the Ensuring Continued Operations and No Other Major Incidents, Closures, or Slowdowns Act in a news conference.

The act stems from prolonged contract negotiations from May 2014 through February 2015 between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The negotiations bogged down day-to-day operations at 29 ports along the West Coast. Agricultural producers, retailers, manufactures and other businesses suffered from the slowdown and were unable to transport their respective products. The slowdown caused billions of dollars in damages, impacted thousands of jobs and caused market share to be lost to foreign competitors.

“We must take the lesson of the most recent ports slowdown to heart: that two parties cannot hold hostage the nation’s economy,” Newhouse said. “Under the status quo, the national economy, which depends on a stable supply chain, is subject to the threat of ongoing disruptive activity at our ports. This legislation will create an impetus to act to resolve disputes before they drag on for months with catastrophic effects.”

Currently, the president has the emergency authority to appoint a board to recommend whether judicial interference should be pursued in a labor dispute. Newhouse’s bill would create specific “triggers” under which a board of inquiry must be convened.

The triggers include:

• When a labor dispute occurs at four or more port facilities.
• When the number of affected employees at ports totals 6,000 or more.
• When U.S. imports and exports drop 20 percent or more in one month.
The act also would direct the secretary of transportation to divide the nation’s maritime ports geographically into four identification regions: West Coast, East Coast, Gulf Coast and Great Lakes.