PORTS Act

Summary: Protecting Orderly and Responsible Transit of Shipments Act of 2015 or the PORTS Act This bill amends the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to extend to labor slowdowns occurring at U.S. ports the President's authority to appoint a board of inquiry into the issues involved. State and territorial governors shall have authority to request the President to appoint a board of inquiry if a slowdown, or a threatened or an actual strike or lock-out, occurring at one or more U.S. ports will, if continued, imperil national or state health or safety.  If the President does not appoint a board of inquiry within 10 days after receiving a request, the governor who made the request may appoint one to report on the dispute to the governor and the President, although without recommendations. Supplemental reports are also authorized. Boards of inquiry are limited to one that may appointed for each dispute during a 90-day period. Governors may also petition for injunctions against such labor or management actions affecting ports in their states or territories.  The National Labor Relations Board, for each dispute, shall take not more than one secret ballot for the same employees in any 30-day period. The Government Accountability Office shall study the West Coast ports slowdown to:  study the economic impact of the slowdowns and congestion caused by the negotiations on the nation as a whole as well as each port, review steps taken by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to resolve the dispute, identify steps FMCS and the Administration could have taken sooner to facilitate an agreement, and determine what legislative changes could strengthen these tools and result in more timely intervention. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Orderly and Responsible 
Transit of Shipments Act of 2015'' or the ``PORTS Act''.

SEC. 2. ADDRESSING PORT SLOW-DOWNS, STRIKES, AND LOCK-OUTS.

    (a) National Emergencies.--Section 206 of the Labor Management 
Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 176) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``Whenever in the opinion'' and 
                inserting ``(a) Whenever in the opinion'';
                    (B) by striking ``a threatened or actual strike or 
                lock-out'' and inserting ``a slow-down, or a threatened 
                or an actual strike or lock-out,'';
                    (C) by striking ``he may appoint'' and inserting 
                ``the President may appoint''; and
                    (D) by striking ``to him within such time as he 
                shall prescribe'' and inserting ``to the President 
                within such time as the President shall prescribe and 
                in accordance with the third sentence of this 
                paragraph'';
            (2) in the third sentence, by striking ``The President'' 
        and inserting ``Not later than 30 days after appointing the 
        board of inquiry, the President''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b)(1) Whenever in the opinion of any Governor of a State or 
territory of the United States, a slow-down, or a threatened or an 
actual strike or lock-out, occurring at one or more ports in the United 
States, is affecting an entire industry or a substantial part thereof 
engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or 
communication among the several States or with foreign nations, or 
engaged in the production of goods for commerce, will, if permitted to 
occur or to continue, imperil national or State health or safety, the 
Governor may request the President to appoint a board of inquiry under 
subsection (a).
    ``(2)(A) If the President does not appoint a board of inquiry 
within 10 days of receiving a request under paragraph (1), the Governor 
who made the request under such paragraph may appoint a board of 
inquiry to inquire into the issues involved in the dispute and prepare 
and submit, to the Governor and the President, a written report as 
described in subparagraph (B) within such time as the Governor shall 
prescribe and in accordance with the deadline under subparagraph (C).
    ``(B) The report described in this subparagraph shall include a 
statement of the facts with respect to the dispute, including a 
statement from each party to the dispute describing the position of 
such party, but shall not contain any recommendations.
    ``(C) Not later than 30 days after appointing a board of inquiry 
under subparagraph (A), the Governor shall--
            ``(i) file a copy of the report described in subparagraph 
        (B) with the Service; and
            ``(ii) make the contents of such report available to the 
        President and the public.
    ``(c) Any Governor of a State or territory of the United States 
(referred to in this subsection as the `supplementing Governor') may 
submit to the President or Governor who appointed a board of inquiry 
under subsection (a) or (b) a supplement to the report under such 
subsection that includes data pertaining to the impact on the State or 
territory of the supplementing Governor of a slow-down, or threatened 
or actual strike or lock-out, at 1 or more ports. Upon receiving such 
supplement, the President or Governor shall file such supplement with 
the Service and make the contents of such supplement available to the 
public.
    ``(d) For each dispute, only one board of inquiry may be appointed 
under subsection (a) or (b)(2) during any 90-day period.''.
    (b) Boards of Inquiry.--Section 207(a) of the Labor Management 
Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 177) is amended by striking ``as the 
President shall determine,'' and inserting ``as the President shall 
determine for a board of inquiry appointed under section 206(a), or as 
the Governor shall determine for a board of inquiry appointed by such 
Governor under section 206(b)(2),''.
    (c) Injunctions During National Emergencies.--Section 208 of the 
Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 178) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
                            (i) by inserting ``appointed under 
                        subsection (a) or (b)(2) of section 206'' after 
                        ``board of inquiry'';
                            (ii) by striking ``strike or lock-out or 
                        the continuing thereof'' and inserting ``slow-
                        down, or threatened or actual strike or lock-
                        out, or the continuing thereof''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``such threatened or 
                        actual strike or lock-out'' and inserting 
                        ``such slow-down, or threatened or actual 
                        strike or lock-out, or the continuing 
                        thereof''; and
                    (B) in clause (ii), by striking ``strike or lock-
                out or the continuing thereof'' and inserting ``slow-
                down, strike, or lock-out, or the continuing thereof'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 
        (c) and (d), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b)(1) If a slow-down, or a threatened or an actual strike or 
lock-out, is occurring at one or more ports and the President does not 
direct the Attorney General to make a petition under subsection (a) 
within 10 days of receiving a report from a board of inquiry appointed 
under subsection (a) or (b)(2) of section 206, any Governor of a State 
or territory of the United States in which such port or ports are 
located may direct the attorney general of such State or territory to 
petition the district court of the United States having jurisdiction in 
such State or territory to enjoin such slow-down, or threatened or 
actual strike or lock-out, or the continuing thereof, at the port or 
ports within such State or territory.
    ``(2) The district court described in paragraph (1) shall have 
jurisdiction to enjoin any slow-down, threatened or actual strike or 
lock-out, or continuing thereof, and to make such other orders as may 
be appropriate, if such court determines that such slow-down or 
threatened or actual strike or lock-out--
    ``(A) affects an entire industry or a substantial part thereof 
engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or 
communication within the applicable State or territory, or engaged in 
the production of goods for commerce; and
    ``(B) if permitted to occur or to continue, will imperil national 
or State health and safety.''.
    (d) Reconvening of Boards of Inquiry; NLRB Secret Ballots.--Section 
209(b) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 179(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``Upon the issuance 
        of such order, the President'' and inserting ``(1) Upon the 
        issuance of any such order, the President or the Governor, as 
        the case may be,'';
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``report to the 
        President'' and inserting ``report to the President and any 
        Governor who initiated an action under section 206(b) or 
        208(b)'';
            (3) in the third sentence, by striking ``The President'' 
        and inserting ``The President or the Governor, as the case may 
        be,'';
            (4) in the fourth sentence--
                    (A) by striking ``The National Labor Relations 
                Board, within the succeeding fifteen days, shall take a 
                secret ballot'' and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Not later than 15 days after the board of inquiry 
        submits a report under paragraph (1), the National Labor 
        Relations Board, subject to paragraph (3), shall take a secret 
        ballot'';
                    (B) by striking ``as stated by him'' and inserting 
                ``as stated by the employer''; and
                    (C) by striking ``Attorney General'' and inserting 
                ``Attorney General or State attorney general, whichever 
                sought the injunction,''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) For each dispute, the National Labor Relations Board 
        shall take not more than 1 secret ballot in any 30-day period 
        for the same employees.''.
    (e) Discharge of Injunctions.--Section 210 of the Labor Management 
Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 180) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by striking ``the Attorney 
        General'' and inserting ``the Attorney General, or the State 
        attorney general, whichever sought the injunction,''; and
            (2) in the second sentence, by striking ``the President'' 
        and inserting ``the President, or any Governor who initiated an 
        action under section 208(b),''.

SEC. 3. GAO STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
carry out a study of the West Coast ports slowdown to--
            (1) study the economic impact of the slowdowns and 
        congestion caused by the negotiations on the Nation as a whole 
        as well as each port;
            (2) review steps taken by the Federal Mediation and 
        Conciliation Service (FMCS) to resolve the dispute;
            (3) identify steps FMCS and the Administration could have 
        taken sooner to facilitate an agreement; and
            (4) determine what legislative changes could strengthen 
        these tools and result in more timely intervention.
    (b) Report.--Not later than the end of the 12-month period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General shall issue a report to Congress containing all findings and 
determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection 
(a).