SEC. 2. DETERRING LABOR SLOWDOWNS AND PROHIBITING 
LABOR 
ORGANIZATIONS 
FROM 
BLOCKING 
MODERNIZATION AT PORTS. 
(a) AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELA-
TIONS ACT.— 
(1) FINDINGS AND POLICY.—Section 1 of the 
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘International trade is one of the most important 
components of the economy of the United States and will 
likely continue to grow in the future. In order to remain 
competitive in an increasingly competitive global economy, 
it is essential that the United States possess a highly effi-
cient and reliable public and private transportation net-
work. The ports of the United States are an increasingly 
important part of such transportation network. Experi-
ence has demonstrated that frequent and periodic disrup-
tions to commerce in the maritime industry in the form 
of deliberate and unprotected labor slowdowns, or impedi-
ments to modernization, at the ports of the United States 
have led to substantial supply chain and economic disrup-
tions, interfering with the free flow of domestic and inter-
national commerce and threatening the economic health 
of the United States, as well as its citizens and businesses. 
Such frequent and periodic disruptions to commerce in the 
maritime industry hurt the reputation of the United 
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States in the global economy, cause the ports of the 
United States to lose business, and represent a serious 
and burgeoning threat to the financial health and eco-
nomic stability of the United States. It is hereby declared 
to be the policy of the United States to eliminate the 
causes and mitigate the effects of such disruptions to com-
merce in the maritime industry and to provide effective 
and prompt remedies to individuals injured by such dis-
ruptions.’’. 
(2) 
DETERRING
LABOR
SLOWDOWNS
AT 
PORTS.—The National Labor Relations Act is 
amended— 
(A) in section 2 (29 U.S.C. 152), by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(15) The term ‘employee engaged in maritime 
employment’ has the meaning given the term ‘em-
ployee’ in section 2(3) of the Longshore and Harbor 
Workers’ Compensation Act (33 U.S.C. 902(3)). 
‘‘(16) The term ‘labor slowdown’— 
‘‘(A) includes any intentional effort by em-
ployees to reduce productivity or efficiency in 
the performance of any duty of such employees; 
and 
‘‘(B) does not include any such effort re-
quired by the good faith belief of such employ-
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ees that an abnormally dangerous condition ex-
ists at the place of employment of such employ-
ees.’’; and 
(B) in section 8(b) (29 U.S.C. 158(b))— 
(i) in paragraph (6), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(ii) in paragraph (7), by striking the 
period at the end of the matter following 
subparagraph (C) and inserting a semi-
colon; and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(8) in representing, or seeking to represent, 
employees engaged in maritime employment, to en-
gage in a labor slowdown at any time, including 
when a collective-bargaining agreement is in effect; 
and’’. 
(3) PROHIBITING LABOR ORGANIZATIONS FROM 
BLOCKING
MODERNIZATION
AT
PORTS.—Section 
8(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 
158(b)), as amended by paragraph (2)(B), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(9) in representing, or seeking to represent, 
employees engaged in maritime employment, to— 
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‘‘(A) impede or attempt to impede mod-
ernization efforts at a port, which thereby inter-
feres with or otherwise impedes economic activ-
ity in relation to the national supply chain; or 
‘‘(B) interfere with or otherwise impede 
the servicing of any automated vessel operating 
without a crew.’’. 
(4) PREVENTING UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.— 
Section 10(l) of the National Labor Relations Act 
(29 U.S.C. 160(l)) is amended in the first sentence, 
by striking ‘‘or section 8(b)(7)’’ and inserting ‘‘or 
paragraph (7), (8), or (9) of section 8(b)’’. 
(b) AMENDMENTS TO THE LABOR MANAGEMENT RE-
LATIONS ACT, 1947.—Section 303 of the Labor Manage-
ment Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 187) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘in section 
8(b)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (4), (8), or 
(9) of section 8(b)’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘With respect to any unfair labor practice 
under paragraph (8) or (9) of section 8(b) of the 
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)), 
the damages recovered shall be in an amount equal 
to 2 times the amount of damages sustained and the 
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cost of the suit shall include any reasonable attorney 
fees and expert witness fees.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) In an action for damages resulting from a viola-
tion of section 8(b)(8) of the National Labor Relations 
Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(8)), it shall not be a defense that 
the injured party has, in any manner, waived, or pur-
ported to waive, the right of such party to pursue mone-
tary damages relating to the labor slowdown at issue— 
‘‘(1) in connection with a contractual grievance 
alleging a violation of a clause prohibiting a strike, 
or a similar clause, in a collective-bargaining agree-
ment; or 
‘‘(2) in connection with an action for a breach 
of such a clause under section 301.’’. 
Æ 
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