I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3433 
To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to address slow- 
downs, strikes, and lock-outs occurring at ports in the United States, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2015 
Mr. REICHERT (for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. COFFMAN, and Mrs. 
RADEWAGEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, to 
address slow-downs, strikes, and lock-outs occurring at 
ports in the United States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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’’. 
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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 in-
serting ‘‘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 Presi-
dent’’; 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, 
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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 com-
munication among the several States or with foreign na-
tions, 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 para-
graph (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 dead-
line under subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(B) The report described in this subparagraph shall 
include a statement of the facts with respect to the dis-
pute, including a statement from each party to the dispute 
describing the position of such party, but shall not contain 
any recommendations. 
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‘‘(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 sub-
paragraph (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 sub-
section (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 avail-
able 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 
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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
EMER-
GENCIES.—Section 208 of the Labor Management Rela-
tions 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 sub-
section (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 there-
of’’; and 
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘strike or 
lock-out or the continuing thereof’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘slow-down, strike, or lock-out, or the con-
tinuing thereof’’; 
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(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(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 ter-
ritory 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 ac-
tual strike or lock-out— 
‘‘(A) affects an entire industry or a substantial part 
thereof engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, trans-
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mission, or communication within the applicable State or 
territory, or engaged in the production of goods for com-
merce; 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 Manage-
ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 179(b)) is amend-
ed— 
(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 Presi-
dent or the Governor, as the case may be,’’; 
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘report 
to the President’’ and inserting ‘‘report to the Presi-
dent 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 Gov-
ernor, as the case may be,’’; 
(4) in the fourth sentence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The National Labor Rela-
tions Board, within the succeeding fifteen days, 
shall take a secret ballot’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(2) Not later than 15 days after the board of 
inquiry submits a report under paragraph (1), the 
National Labor Relations Board, subject to para-
graph (3), shall take a secret ballot’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘as stated by him’’ and in-
serting ‘‘as stated by the employer’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and in-
serting ‘‘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 Re-
lations Board shall take not more than 1 secret bal-
lot 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 Attor-
ney 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),’’. 
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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 dis-
pute; 
(3) identify steps FMCS and the Administra-
tion could have taken sooner to facilitate an agree-
ment; 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). 
Æ 
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