I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3932 

To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to provide for the 

mandatory appointment of a board of inquiry into slow-downs, strikes, 

or lock-outs when certain specified events occur, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2015 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. SCHRADER, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, Mr. 

COLE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. UPTON, and Mr. 

WALDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to 

provide for the mandatory appointment of a board of 

inquiry into slow-downs, strikes, or lock-outs when certain specified events occur, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Continued 

5 Operations and No Other Major Incidents, Closures, or 

6 Slowdowns Act’’ or the ‘‘ECONOMICS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONDITIONS REQUIRING APPOINTMENT OF BOARD 

2 OF INQUIRY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 206 of the Labor Manage4 ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 176) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever in the opinion’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘(a) Whenever in the opinion’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘a threatened or actual strike’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘a slow-down, or a threatened or ac9 tual strike or lock-out’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(b) The President shall appoint a board of inquiry 

12 described in subsection (a) not later than 10 days after 

13 any of the following events occur: 

14 ‘‘(1) The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the 

15 monthly Import or Export Vessel Value decreased by 

16 20 percent or more in any one month from the pre17 vious month in any one of the four metric identifica18 tion regions. 

19 ‘‘(2) A slow-down, or a threatened or an actual 

20 strike or lock-out takes place at four or more port 

21 facilities in any one of the four metric identification 

22 regions. 

23 ‘‘(3) A slow-down, or a threatened or an actual 

24 strike or lock-out occurs in which the total number 

25 of employees actively striking, locked-out, or slowing 

26 down at the affected port facilities in any one of the 


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1 four metric identification regions, is 6,000 or great2 er. 

3 ‘‘(c) Whenever a board of inquiry is appointed as re4 quired by the occurrence of any of the events described 

5 in subsection (b), such board shall submit a written report 

6 to the President not later than 10 days after its appoint7 ment. If a board of inquiry is appointed as required due 

8 to the occurrence of the event described in paragraph (1) 

9 of such subsection, such board shall include in its report 

10 an assessment as to whether a slow-down, or a threatened 

11 or an actual strike or lock-out contributed to the occur12 rence of such an event resulting in the board’s appoint13 ment. If the board determines that a slow-down, or a 

14 threatened or an actual strike or lock-out did contribute 

15 to the occurrence of such an event, the board shall also 

16 include in its report the additional criteria established in 

17 subsection (a). The President shall file a copy of such re18 port with the Service and shall make its contents available 

19 to the public. 

20 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘metric 

21 identification region’ means one of the four regions into 

22 which each of the Nation’s maritime ports is classified by 

23 the Secretary of Transportation in accordance with section 

24 4 of the Ensuring Continued Operations and No Other 

25 Major Incidents, Closures, or Slowdowns Act.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 208(a) of 

2 the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 

3 178(a)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘such strike or lock-out’’ and in5 serting ‘‘such slow-down, strike, or lock-out’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘such threatened or actual 

7 strike’’ and inserting ‘‘such slow-down, or threatened 

8 or actual strike or lock-out’’. 

9 SEC. 3. STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL 

10 CONDITIONS REQUIRING APPOINTMENT OF 

11 BOARD OF INQUIRY. 

12 (a) DATA.—The Director of the Bureau of Transpor13 tation Statistics shall collect the following data relating 

14 to activity at port facilities in the United States: 

15 (1) The average number of lifts per hour of 

16 containers by crane. 

17 (2) The average cargo container dwell time. 

18 (3) The average truck times at ports. 

19 (4) The average rail time at ports. 

20 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

21 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 Director shall transmit a report to Congress containing 

23 recommendations for determining whether conditions exist 

24 requiring the appointment of a board of inquiry pursuant 

25 to section 206(b) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 


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1 1947, using the data required to be collected in accordance 

2 with subsection (a), or any other metric recommended by 

3 the Director. 

4 SEC. 4. CLASSIFICATION OF PORTS INTO REGIONS. 

5 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

6 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall classify 

7 the Nation’s maritime ports as belonging to one of the 

8 following four metric identification regions: 

9 (1) West Coast. 

10 (2) East Coast. 

11 (3) Gulf Coast. 

12 (4) Great Lakes. 

Æ 


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