What's happening
This bill amends the waterfront commission act to require the commission to accept applications for the longshoremen's register and to streamline the registration process.
Why it matters
Shifts control over hiring. By removing the commission's previous authority to suspend applications and instead requiring acceptance, the bill limits the commission’s discretion and gives hiring decisions more directly to employers and unions. This could make it easier for employers to address labor shortages or staffing needs.
Reduces regulatory hurdles. The bill eliminates complex procedures, standards, and justifications that previously governed who could be added to the longshoremen’s register. This change may speed up the process, reduce bureaucratic delays, and make port operations more responsive to market demands.
Alters oversight and transparency. By striking requirements for detailed petitions, joint recommendations, and mandatory consultation with various stakeholders, the bill reduces avenues for oversight and public input into hiring and registration decisions. This could lead to concerns about fairness, transparency, or potential favoritism in hiring.
Impacts workforce protections. The removal of explicit standards—such as balancing workforce size, ensuring fair employment practices, and considering economic effects—could weaken protections intended to prevent exploitative hiring practices and to maintain job security for current longshoremen.
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Headline styles
Let More Dockworkers Apply
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Allow More Dockworker Applications
In Assembly Committee · Corporations, Authorities And Commissions · Sponsor Michael Cusick
Full text
4 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3263
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 5, 2019
Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the waterfront commission act, in relation to empowering the waterfront commission to accept applications in the longshoremen's register
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 5-p of chapter 882 of the laws of 1953, constituting the waterfront commission act, as amended by chapter 431 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
§ 5-p. [Suspension or acceptance of applications for inclusion in longshoremen's] Longshoremen's register[; exceptions]. [1.] The commission shall [suspend the acceptance of] accept applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register [for a period of sixty days after the effective date of this act. Upon the termination of such sixty day period the commission shall thereafter have the power to make determinations to suspend the acceptance of application for inclusion in the longshoremen's register for such periods of time as the commission may from time to time establish and, after any such period of suspension, the commission shall have the power to make determinations to accept applications for such period of time as the commission may establish or in such number as the commission may determine, or both. Such determinations to suspend or accept applications shall be made by the commission]: (a) [on its own initiative or (b)] upon the joint recommendation in writing of stevedores and other employers of longshoremen in the port of New York district, acting through their representative for the [purpose] purposes of collective bargaining with a labor organization representing such longshoremen in such district, and such labor organization; or [(c)] (b) upon the petition in writing of a stevedore or [another] other employer of longshoremen in the port of New York district which does not have a representative for the [purpose] purposes of collective bargaining with a labor organization representing such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00182-01-9
S. 3263 2
longshoremen. [The commission shall have the power to accept or reject such joint recommendation or petition.
All joint recommendations or petitions filed for the acceptance of applications with the commission for inclusion in the longshoremen's register shall include:
(a) the number of employees requested;
(b) the category or categories of employees requested;
(c) a detailed statement setting forth the reasons for said joint recommendation or petition;
(d) in cases where a joint recommendation is made under this section, the collective bargaining representative of stevedores and other employers of longshoremen in the port of New York district and the labor organization representing such longshoremen shall provide the allocation of the number of persons to be sponsored by each employer of longshoremen in the port of New York district; and
(e) any other information requested by the commission.
2. In administering the provisions of this section, the commission shall observe the following standards:
(a) To encourage as far as practicable the regularization of the employment of longshoremen;
(b) To bring the number of eligible longshoremen into balance with the demand for longshoremen's services within the port of New York district without reducing the number of eligible longshoremen below that necessary to meet the requirements of longshoremen in the port of New York district;
(c) To encourage the mobility and full utilization of the existing work force of longshoremen;
(d) To protect the job security of the existing work force of longshoremen by considering the wages and employment benefits of prospective registrants;
(e) To eliminate oppressive and evil hiring practices injurious to waterfront labor and waterborne commerce in the port of New York district, including, but not limited to, those oppressive and evil hiring practices that may result from either a surplus or shortage of waterfront labor;
(f) To consider the effect of technological change and automation and such other economic data and facts as are relevant to a proper determination;
(g) To protect the public interest of the port of New York district.
In observing the foregoing standards and before determining to suspend or accept applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register, the commission shall consult with and consider the views of, including any statistical data or other factual information concerning the size of the longshoremen's register submitted by, carriers of freight by water, stevedores, waterfront terminal owners and operators, any labor organization representing employees registered by the commission, and any other person whose interests may be affected by the size of the longshoremen's register.
Any joint recommendation or petition granted hereunder shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe.
3. Any determination by the commission pursuant to this section to suspend or accept applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register shall be made upon a record, shall not become effective until five days after notice thereof to the collective bargaining representative of stevedores and other employers of longshoremen in the port of New York district and to the labor organization representing such long-
S. 3263 3
shoremen and/or the petitioning stevedore or other employer of longshoremen in the port of New York district and shall be subject to judicial review for being arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion in a proceeding jointly instituted by such representative and such labor organization and/or by the petitioning stevedore or other employer of longshoremen in the port of New York district. Such judicial review proceeding may be instituted in either state in the manner provided by the law of such state for review of the final decision or action of administrative agencies of such state, provided, however, that such proceeding shall be decided directly by the appellate division as the court of first instance (to which the proceeding shall be transferred by order of transfer by the supreme court in the state of New York or in the state of New Jersey by notice of appeal from the commission's determination) and provided further that notwithstanding any other provision of law in either state no court shall have power to stay the commission's determination prior to final judicial decision for more than fifteen days. In the event that the court enters a final order setting aside the determination by the commission to accept applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register, the registration of any longshoremen included in the longshoremen's register as a result of such determination by the commission shall be cancelled.
This section shall apply, notwithstanding any other provision of this act, provided however, such section shall not in any way limit or restrict the provisions of section five of article nine of this act empowering the commission to register longshoremen on a temporary basis to meet special or emergency needs or the provisions of section four of article nine of this act relating to the immediate reinstatement of persons removed from the longshoremen's register pursuant to article nine of this act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify, limit or restrict in any way any of the rights protected by article fifteen of this act.
4. Upon the granting of any joint recommendation or petition under this section for the acceptance of applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register, the commission shall accept applications upon written sponsorship from the prospective employer of longshoremen. The sponsoring employer shall furnish the commission with the name, address and such other identifying or category information as the commission may prescribe for any person so sponsored. The sponsoring employer shall certify that the selection of the persons so sponsored was made in a fair and non-discriminatory basis in accordance with the requirements of the laws of the United States and the states of New York and New Jersey dealing with equal employment opportunities.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, where the commission determines to accept applications for inclusion in the longshoremen's register on its own initiative, such acceptance shall be accomplished in such manner deemed appropriate by the commission.
5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the commission may include in the longshoremen's register under such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe:
(a) a person issued registration on a temporary basis to meet special or emergency needs who is still so registered by the commission;
(b) a person defined as a longshoreman in subdivision six of section five-a of this act who is employed by a stevedore defined in paragraph (b) or (c) of subdivision one of said section five-a and whose employment is not subject to the guaranteed annual income provisions of any collective bargaining agreement relating to longshoremen;
S. 3263 4
(c) no more than twenty persons issued registration limited to acting as scalemen pursuant to the provisions of chapter 953 of the laws of 1969 and chapter 64 of the laws of 1982 who are still so registered by the commission and who are no longer employed as scalemen on the effective date of this subdivision;
(d) a person issued registration on a temporary basis as a checker to meet special or emergency needs who applied for such registration prior to January 15, 1986 and who is still so registered by the commission;
(e) a person issued registration on a temporary basis as a checker to meet special or emergency needs in accordance with a waterfront commission resolution of September 4, 1996 and who is still so registered by the commission;
(f) a person issued registration on a temporary basis as a container equipment operator to meet special or emergency needs in accordance with a waterfront commission resolution of September 4, 1996 and who is still so registered by the commission; and
(g) a person issued registration on a temporary basis as a longshoreman to meet special or emergency needs in accordance with a waterfront commission resolution of September 4, 1996 and who is still so registered by the commission.
6. The commission may include in the longshoremen's register, under such terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe, persons issued registration on a temporary basis as a longshoreman or a checker to meet special or emergency needs and who are still so registered by the commission upon the enactment of this amendment.]
Stevedores and other employers of longshoremen in the port of New York district shall furnish the commission with the names and addresses of the persons selected for inclusion in the longshoremen register.
§ 2. If any part or provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances be adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision or application directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this act or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances and the two states hereby declare that they would have entered into this act or the remainder thereof had the invalidity of such provisions or application thereof been apparent.
§ 3. This act constitutes an agreement between the states of New York and New Jersey, supplementary to the waterfront commission compact and amendatory thereof, and shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes of that compact and the powers vested in the waterfront commission hereby shall be construed to be in aid of and supplemental to and not in limitation of or in derogation of any of the powers heretofore conferred upon or delegated to the waterfront commission.
§ 4. This act shall take effect upon the enactment into law by the state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with this act, but if the state of New Jersey shall have already enacted such legislation, this act shall take effect immediately; and provided that the waterfront commission shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of the enactment of the legislation provided for in section one of this act in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text of laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the waterfront commission act, in relation to empowering the waterfront commission to accept applications in the longshoremen's register
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this legislation is to provide the bistate approval required to amend the Waterfront Commission Compact. The State of New Jersey enacted into law legislation of identical effect in the form of P.L.2007, c.167, on September 10, 2007. Approximately ninety percent of international maritime commerce in the Port of New York & New Jersey (PONYNJ) occurs in New Jersey. Enactment of this legislation would give employers at the PONYNJ the authority to hire additional labor when necessary to respond to market trends and opportunities for growth, as well as improve the efficiency and productivity of the longshore work force.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1. Section 5-p of chapter 882 of the laws of 1953, constituting the waterfront commission act, is REPEALED and a new section is added which directs the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor to accept applications upon the recommendation of Stevedores and other employers of longshoremen in the port of New York district.
Read the full memo (1,157 words)
Section 2. If any part or provision of this act is deemed invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, that judgment shall only be applied to the specific provision found invalid and it shall not affect or impair the remainder of this act.
Section 3. This act constitutes an agreement between the states of New York and New Jersey, and shall be viewed as supplementary to the Water Commission Compact and adopted to accomplish the purposes of this compact.
Section 4. Effective Date.
Justification
Forty-three years ago New York and New Jersey supplemented their bi-state Waterfront Commission Compact by enacting Section 5-p, the "controlled register statute." The statute empowers the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor to control the size of the longshore work- force in the PONYNJ by periodically opening and closing the register of persons licensed to work on the docks. Employers in the PONYNJ are the only employers in the nation engaged in the business of international maritime commerce who are denied the ability to expeditiously perform the basic management function of hiring new workers or replacing those lost through attrition and retirement.
Since the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established specific agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, and the late 2016 completion of an expansion project underway in the Panama Canal will result in a major opportunity for growth in the industry. The opportunity and challenge to secure adequate manpower to handle the anticipated increases by the industry will be a major consideration in the decision making process of benefi- cial cargo owners and ocean carriers who prefer to use the PONYNJ as their primary port of call. The potential for economic loss to the econ- omies of New York, New Jersey, and the Northeast Region could be stag- gering if productivity is lacking due to continued use of the current slow and antiquated hiring process.
On September 9, 2013 following the ratification of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, industry representatives submitted a request to hire an additional 682 workers in the Port workforce. The primary reasons for the request was to replace senior members of the workforce who had accepted an early retirement incentive plan and to put in place provisions of the new CBA designed to activate essential productivity and efficiency improvements. As the result of the slow inefficient proc- ess currently in place, it was not until February 4, 2014, that the first new workers were hired in the PONYNJ. It then took until late September of 2015, more than two years, to complete the hiring of the entire 682 workers requested. Because of the cumbersome hiring process currently in place, industry leaders now estimate they are one year behind schedule on implementing critical productivity and efficiency improvements. Looking forward, the ability to agilely maintain adequate manpower levels to address the demands of its customers, will be a major factor in the PONYNJ's ability to both sustain and strengthen itself as the economic engine for the world's wealthiest consumer market as it competes for a larger share of the economic prosperity and quality of life benefits that international maritime commerce brings to this region and nation.
This legislation gives employers at the PONYNJ the authority to adjust the size of the longshore workforce without the artificial constraints of an administrative agency ill-suited for making market- driven commer- cial decisions to meet the demands of its customers. However, it retains the Commission's traditional role in the longshore licensing process. Under this legislation, hiring in the longshore industry would conform to hiring practices in other industries employing licensed personnel where private industry determines the number of new employees needed and selects the individuals to fill these positions. These indi- viduals would still be subject to federal and state criminal history background check review by the Commission to insure the good character and integrity of the workers selected. This legislative change does not interfere with the Waterfront Commission's core police powers in any way.
Prior legislative history
2018: S.3312 - Referred to Corporations / A.3270 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2017: S.3312 - Referred to Corporations / A.3270 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2016: S.4630-B - Referred to Veterans / A.6970-B Referred to Corpo- rations 2015: S.4630-A - Referred to Corporations / A.6970-A - Referred to Corporations 2014: S.3984 - Referred to Veterans / A.4636 - Referred to Corporations 2013: S.3984 - Referred to Corporations / A.4636 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2012: S.4668-C - Referred to Corporations / A.7155-D - Referred to Corporations 2011: S.4668-A - Referred to Corporations / A.7155-B - Referred to Corporations 2010: S.5039 - Referred to Corporations / A.5274 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2009: S.5039 - Referred to Corporations / A.5274 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2008: S.182 - Referred to Corporations / A.3593 - Referred to Corpo- rations 2007: S.182- Died on Third Reading / A.3593 - Referred to Corporations 2006: S.6711- Referred to Corporations / A.12022 - Referred to Corpo- rations
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect upon the enactment into law by the state of New Jersey of legislation having an identical effect with this act, but if the state of New Jersey shall have already enacted such legislation, then it shall take effect immediately; and provided that the waterfront commission shall notify the legislative bill drafting commission upon the occurrence of the enactment of the legislation provided for in section one of this act in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New York in furtherance of effecting the provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of the public offi- cers law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.