II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 702 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor Management 

Relations Act, 1947 to deter labor slowdowns at ports of the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2017 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Labor 

Management Relations Act, 1947 to deter labor slowdowns at ports of the United States, 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 ‘‘Preventing Labor 

5 Union Slowdowns Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘PLUS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DETERRING LABOR SLOWDOWNS. 

2 (a) AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELA3 TIONS ACT.—The National Labor Relations Act is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) in section 1 (29 U.S.C. 151), by adding at 

6 the end the following: 

7 ‘‘International trade is one of the most impor8 tant components of the economy of the United 

9 States and will likely continue to grow in the future. 

10 In order to remain competitive in an increasingly 

11 competitive global economy, it is essential that the 

12 United States possess a highly efficient and reliable 

13 public and private transportation network. The ports 

14 of the United States are an increasingly important 

15 part of such transportation network. Experience has 

16 demonstrated that frequent and periodic disruptions 

17 to commerce in the maritime industry in the form of 

18 deliberate and unprotected labor slowdowns at the 

19 ports of the United States have led to substantial 

20 and frequent economic disruption and loss, inter21 fering with the free flow of domestic and inter22 national commerce and threatening the economic 

23 health of the United States, as well as its citizens 

24 and businesses. Such frequent and periodic disrup25 tions to commerce in the maritime industry hurt the 

26 reputation of the United States in the global econVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Mar 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S702.IS S702

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1 omy, cause the ports of the United States to lose 

2 business, and represent a serious and burgeoning 

3 threat to the financial health and economic stability 

4 of the United States. It is hereby declared to be the 

5 policy of the United States to eliminate the causes 

6 and mitigate the effects of such disruptions to com7 merce in the maritime industry and to provide effec8 tive and prompt remedies to individuals injured by 

9 such disruptions.’’; 

10 (2) in section 2 (29 U.S.C. 152), by adding at 

11 the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(15) The term ‘employee engaged in maritime 

13 employment’ has the meaning given the term ‘em14 ployee’ in section 2(3) of the Longshore and Harbor 

15 Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902(3)). 

16 ‘‘(16) The term ‘labor slowdown’— 

17 ‘‘(A) includes any intentional effort by em18 ployees to reduce productivity or efficiency in 

19 the performance of any duty of such employees; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) does not include any such effort re22 quired by the good faith belief of such employ23 ees that an abnormally dangerous condition ex24 ists at the place of employment of such employ25 ees.’’; 


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1 (3) in section 8(b) (29 U.S.C. 158(b))— 

2 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

3 after the semicolon; 

4 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe5 riod at the end of the matter following subpara6 graph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(8) in representing, or seeking to represent, 

9 employees engaged in maritime employment, to en10 gage in a labor slowdown at any time, including 

11 when a collective-bargaining agreement is in effect.’’; 

12 and 

13 (4) in section 10(l) (29 U.S.C. 160(l)), in the 

14 first sentence, by striking ‘‘or section 8(b)(7)’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘or paragraph (7) or (8) of section 8(b)’’. 

16 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE LABOR MANAGEMENT RE17 LATIONS ACT, 1947.—Section 303 of the Labor Manage18 ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 187) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘in section 

20 8(b)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (4) or (8) 

21 of section 8(b)’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

23 following: ‘‘With respect to any unfair labor practice 

24 under section 8(b)(8) of the National Labor Rela25 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(8)), the damages recovVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Mar 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S702.IS S702

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1 ered shall be in an amount equal to 2 times the 

2 amount of damages sustained and the cost of the 

3 suit shall include any reasonable attorney fees and 

4 expert witness fees.’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(c) In an action for damages resulting from a viola7 tion of section 8(b)(8) of the National Labor Relations 

8 Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(8)), it shall not be a defense that 

9 the injured party has, in any manner, waived, or pur10 ported to waive, the right of such party to pursue mone11 tary damages relating to the labor slowdown at issue— 

12 ‘‘(1) in connection with a contractual grievance 

13 alleging a violation of a clause prohibiting a strike, 

14 or a similar clause, in a collective-bargaining agree15 ment; or 

16 ‘‘(2) in connection with an action for a breach 

17 of such a clause under section 301.’’. 

Æ 


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