II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1519 

To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to address slowdowns, 

strikes, and lock-outs occurring at ports in the United States, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2015 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, and Mr. WICKER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Committee discharged; referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to 

address slowdowns, strikes, and lock-outs occurring at 

ports in 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 ‘‘Protecting Orderly and 

5 Responsible Transit of Shipments Act of 2015’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PORTS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADDRESSING PORT SLOWDOWNS, STRIKES, AND 

2 LOCK-OUTS. 

3 (a) NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.—Section 206 of the 

4 Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 176) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in the first sentence— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘Whenever in the opinion’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘(a) Whenever in the opinion’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘a threatened or actual 

10 strike or lock-out’’ and inserting ‘‘a slowdown, 

11 or a threatened or an actual strike or lock12 out,’’; 

13 (C) by striking ‘‘he may appoint’’ and in14 serting ‘‘the President may appoint’’; and 

15 (D) by striking ‘‘to him within such time 

16 as he shall prescribe’’ and inserting ‘‘to the 

17 President within such time as the President 

18 shall prescribe and in accordance with the third 

19 sentence of this subsection’’; 

20 (2) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

21 President’’ and inserting ‘‘Not later than 30 days 

22 after appointing the board of inquiry, the Presi23 dent’’; and 

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

25 ‘‘(b)(1) Whenever in the opinion of any Governor of 

26 a State or territory of the United States, a slowdown, or 


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1 a threatened or an actual strike or lock-out, occurring at 

2 1 or more ports in the United States, is affecting an entire 

3 industry or a substantial part thereof engaged in trade, 

4 commerce, transportation, transmission, or communica5 tion among the several States or with foreign nations, or 

6 engaged in the production of goods for commerce, will, if 

7 permitted to occur or to continue, imperil national or 

8 State health or safety, the Governor may request the 

9 President to appoint a board of inquiry under subsection 

10 (a). 

11 ‘‘(2)(A) If the President does not appoint a board of 

12 inquiry within 10 days of receiving a request under para13 graph (1), the Governor who made the request under such 

14 paragraph may appoint a board of inquiry to inquire into 

15 the issues involved in the dispute and prepare and submit, 

16 to the Governor and the President, a written report as 

17 described in subparagraph (B) within such time as the 

18 Governor shall prescribe and in accordance with the dead19 line under subparagraph (C). 

20 ‘‘(B) The report described in this subparagraph shall 

21 include a statement of the facts with respect to the dis22 pute, including a statement from each party to the dispute 

23 describing the position of such party, but shall not contain 

24 any recommendations. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days after appointing a board 

2 of inquiry under subparagraph (A), the Governor shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) file a copy of the report described in sub4 paragraph (B) with the Service; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) make the contents of such report available 

6 to the President and the public. 

7 ‘‘(c) Any Governor of a State or territory of the 

8 United States (referred to in this subsection as the 

9 ‘supplementing Governor’) may submit to the President 

10 or Governor who appointed a board of inquiry under sub11 section (a) or (b) a supplement to the report under such 

12 subsection that includes data pertaining to the impact on 

13 the State or territory of the supplementing Governor of 

14 a slowdown, or a threatened or an actual strike or lock15 out, at 1 or more ports. Upon receiving such supplement, 

16 the President or Governor shall file such supplement with 

17 the Service and make the contents of such supplement 

18 available to the public. 

19 ‘‘(d) For each slowdown, or threatened or actual 

20 strike or lock-out, at 1 or more ports, only 1 board of 

21 inquiry may be appointed under subsection (a) or (b)(2) 

22 during any 90-day period.’’. 

23 (b) BOARDS OF INQUIRY.—Section 207(a) of the 

24 Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 177) 

25 is amended by striking ‘‘as the President shall determine,’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘as the President shall determine for a 

2 board of inquiry appointed under section 206(a), or as the 

3 Governor shall determine for a board of inquiry appointed 

4 by such Governor under section 206(b)(2),’’. 

5 (c) INJUNCTIONS DURING NATIONAL EMER6 GENCIES.—Section 208 of the Labor Management Rela7 tions Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 178) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 

10 (i) by inserting ‘‘appointed under sub11 section (a) or (b)(2) of section 206’’ after 

12 ‘‘board of inquiry’’; 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘strike or lock-out or 

14 the continuing thereof’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘slowdown, or threatened or actual strike 

16 or lock-out, or the continuing thereof’’; and 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘such threatened or 

18 actual strike or lock-out’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘such slowdown, or threatened or actual 

20 strike or lock-out, or the continuing there21 of’’; and 

22 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘strike or 

23 lock-out or the continuing thereof’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘slowdown, strike, or lock-out, or the con25 tinuing thereof’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

2 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(b)(1) If a slowdown, or a threatened or an actual 

6 strike or lock-out, is occurring at 1 or more ports and the 

7 President does not direct the Attorney General to make 

8 a petition under subsection (a) within 10 days of receiving 

9 a report from a board of inquiry appointed under sub10 section (a) or (b)(2) of section 206, any Governor of a 

11 State or territory of the United States in which such port 

12 or ports are located may direct the attorney general of 

13 such State or territory to petition the district court of the 

14 United States having jurisdiction in such State or terri15 tory to enjoin such slowdown, or threatened or actual 

16 strike or lock-out, or the continuing thereof, at the port 

17 or ports within such State or territory. 

18 ‘‘(2) The district court described in paragraph (1) 

19 shall have jurisdiction to enjoin any slowdown, threatened 

20 or actual strike or lock-out, or continuing thereof, and to 

21 make such other orders as may be appropriate, if such 

22 court determines that such slowdown or threatened or ac23 tual strike or lock-out— 

24 ‘‘(A) affects an entire industry or a substantial 

25 part thereof engaged in trade, commerce, transporVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Jun 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1519.RCS S1519

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1 tation, transmission, or communication within the 

2 applicable State or territory, or engaged in the pro3 duction of goods for commerce; and 

4 ‘‘(B) if permitted to occur or to continue, will 

5 imperil national or State health and safety.’’. 

6 (d) RECONVENING OF BOARDS OF INQUIRY; NLRB 

7 SECRET BALLOTS.—Section 209(b) of the Labor Manage8 ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 179(b)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘Upon the 

11 issuance of such order, the President’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(1) Upon the issuance of any such order, the Presi13 dent or the Governor, as the case may be,’’; 

14 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘report 

15 to the President’’ and inserting ‘‘report to the Presi16 dent and any Governor who initiated an action 

17 under section 206(b) or 208(b)’’; 

18 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

19 President’’ and inserting ‘‘The President or the Gov20 ernor, as the case may be,’’; 

21 (4) in the fourth sentence— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘The National Labor Rela23 tions Board, within the succeeding fifteen days, 

24 shall take a secret ballot’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(2) Not later than 15 days after the board of inquiry 

2 submits a report under paragraph (1), the National Labor 

3 Relations Board, subject to paragraph (3), shall take a 

4 secret ballot’’; 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘as stated by him’’ and in6 serting ‘‘as stated by the employer’’; and 

7 (C) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and in8 serting ‘‘Attorney General or State attorney 

9 general, whichever sought the injunction,’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(3) For each slowdown, or threatened or actual 

12 strike or lock-out, at 1 or more ports, the National Labor 

13 Relations Board shall take not more than 1 secret ballot 

14 in any 30-day period for the same employees.’’. 

15 (e) DISCHARGE OF INJUNCTIONS.—Section 210 of 

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

17 180) is amended— 

18 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘the Attor19 ney General’’ and inserting ‘‘the Attorney General, 

20 or the State attorney general, whichever sought the 

21 injunction,’’; and 

22 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

23 President’’ and inserting ‘‘the President, or any 


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1 Governor who initiated an action under section 

2 208(b),’’. 

Æ 


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