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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1855

To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to foreign documented

vessels, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 11 (legislative day, JANUARY 25), 1994

Mr. WOFFORD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To extend the coverage of certain Federal labor laws to

foreign documented vessels, 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. COVERAGE OF FOREIGN VESSELS UNDER FED4 ERAL LABOR LAWS.

5 (a) NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS.—Section 2(2) of

6 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(2)) is

7 amended—

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des9 ignation; and
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1 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

2 new subparagraph:

3 ‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘employer’ also includes—

4 ‘‘(I) a foreign documented vessel, if such

5 vessel is regularly engaged in transporting pas6 sengers from and to a port or place in the

7 United States, with or without an intervening

8 stop or stops at a foreign port or ports, and

9 such term also includes a foreign documented

10 vessel that is regularly engaged in transporting

11 passengers only from or to a port or place in

12 the United States if the Board determines that

13 such transport is so arranged for the purposes

14 of avoiding being considered an employer for

15 purposes of this Act;

16 ‘‘(II) a foreign documented nonliner vessel

17 regularly engaged in transporting cargo in the

18 foreign trade of the United States; and

19 ‘‘(III) a foreign documented vessel on

20 which occurs the production or processing of

21 goods or services for sale or distribution in the

22 United States, and a foreign documented vessel

23 that engages in transporting cargo between ves24 sels in international waters and a vessel, port,
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1 or place in the United States regardless of the

2 ownership or control of the vessel.

3 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this section and except as

4 provided in clause (i)(III), such term shall not in5 clude any foreign documented vessel that can dem6 onstrate—

7 ‘‘(I) that at least 50 percent of its crew is

8 composed of citizens of the country of registry;

9 and

10 ‘‘(II) that legal title to such vessel is held

11 by citizens of the country of registry, and bene12 ficial ownership and control, direct or indirect,

13 are held by citizens of the country of registry.

14 ‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term

15 ‘citizen’ shall include—

16 ‘‘(I) natural persons who are citizens of

17 the country of registry;

18 ‘‘(II) a corporation, if its equity is at least

19 51 percent owned and controlled by citizens of

20 the country of registry; and

21 ‘‘(III) a partnership, if all the general

22 partners are citizens of the country of registry

23 and at least 51 percent of the partnership is

24 owned and controlled by citizens of the country

25 of registry.’’.
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1 (b) FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.—

2 (1) DEFINITION.—Section 3(d) of the Fair

3 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(d)) is

4 amended—

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection

6 designation; and

7 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol8 lowing new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(2)(A) The term ‘employer’ also includes—

10 ‘‘(i) a foreign documented vessel, if such vessel

11 is regularly engaged in transporting passengers from

12 and to a port or place in the United States, with or

13 without an intervening stop or stops at a foreign

14 port or ports, and such term also includes a foreign

15 documented vessel that is regularly engaged in

16 transporting passengers only from or to a port or

17 place in the United States if the Secretary deter18 mines that such transport is so arranged for the

19 purposes of avoiding being considered an employer

20 for purposes of this Act;

21 ‘‘(ii) a foreign documented nonliner vessel regu22 larly engaged in transporting cargo in the foreign

23 trade of the United States; and

24 ‘‘(iii) a foreign documented vessel on which oc25 curs the production or processing of goods or serv-
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1 ices for sale or distribution in the United States, and

2 a foreign documented vessel that engages in trans3 porting cargo between vessels in international waters

4 and a vessel, port, or place in the United States re5 gardless of the ownership or control of the vessel.

6 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section and except as pro7 vided in subparagraph (A)(iii), such term shall not include

8 any foreign documented vessel that can demonstrate—

9 ‘‘(i) that at least 50 percent of its crew is com10 posed of citizens of the country of registry; and

11 ‘‘(ii) that legal title to such vessel is held by

12 citizens of the country of registry, and beneficial

13 ownership and control, direct or indirect, are held by

14 citizens of the country of registry.

15 ‘‘(C) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘citizen’

16 shall include—

17 ‘‘(i) natural persons who are citizens of the

18 country of registry;

19 ‘‘(ii) a corporation, if its equity is at least 51

20 percent owned and controlled by citizens of the

21 country of registry; and

22 ‘‘(iii) a partnership, if all the general partners

23 are citizens of the country of registry and at least

24 51 percent of the partnership is owned and con25 trolled by citizens of the country of registry.’’.
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1 (2) MINIMUM WAGE.—Section 6(a)(4) of the

2 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

3 206(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a foreign

4 documented vessel described in section 3(d)(2)(A)’’

5 after ‘‘an American Vessel’’.

6 (3) EXEMPTION.—Section 13(a)(12) of the Fair

7 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

8 213(a)(12)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a foreign

9 documented vessel described in section 3(d)(2)(A)’’

10 after ‘‘an American Vessel’’.

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