[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9911 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9911
To amend the Railway Labor Act to apply the provisions of such Act to
maritime employers and employees in the maritime industry, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2024
Mrs. Steel introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Railway Labor Act to apply the provisions of such Act to
maritime employers and employees in the maritime industry, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Safeguarding the Supply Chain Act''.
SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF RAILWAY LABOR ACT TO MARITIME EMPLOYERS AND
EMPLOYEES IN THE MARITIME INDUSTRY.
The Railway Labor Act is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``TITLE III--COVERAGE OF MARITIME EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYEES IN THE
MARITIME INDUSTRY
``SEC. 301. COVERAGE OF MARITIME EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES.
``All of the provisions of title I of this Act, except the
provisions of section 3 thereof, are extended to and shall cover every
maritime employer and every employee of a maritime employer, subject to
its continuing authority to supervise and direct the manner of
rendition of the employee's service.
``SEC. 302. APPLICATION OF PROVISIONS.
``The duties, requirements, penalties, benefits, and privileges
prescribed and established by the provisions of title I of this Act,
except the provisions of section 3 thereof, shall apply to maritime
employers and their employees in the same manner and to the same extent
as though such maritime employers and their employees were specifically
included within the definition of `carrier' and `employee',
respectively, in section 1 thereof.
``SEC. 303. NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD.
``(a) In General.--The parties or either party to a dispute between
an employee or a group of such employees and a maritime employer or
employers may invoke the services of the National Mediation Board and
the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board is extended to any of
the following cases:
``(1) A dispute concerning changes in rates of pay, rules,
or working conditions not adjusted by the parties in
conference.
``(2) Any other dispute not referable to an adjustment
board, as described in section 304(b), and not adjusted in
conference between the parties, or where conferences are
refused.
``(b) Labor Emergencies.--The National Mediation Board may proffer
its services in case any labor emergency is found by it to exist at any
time.
``(c) Invocation in Disputes.--The services of the National
Mediation Board may be invoked in a case under this title in the same
manner and to the same extent as are the disputes covered by section 5
of title I of this Act.
``SEC. 304. BOARDS OF ADJUSTMENT.
``(a) Treatment of Pending Disputes.--The disputes between an
employee or a group of employees and a maritime employer or employers
growing out of grievances, or out of the interpretation or application
of agreements concerning rates of pay, rules, or working conditions,
including cases pending and unadjusted on the date of enactment of this
title before the National Labor Relations Board, shall be handled in
the usual manner up to and including the chief operating officer of the
maritime employer designated to handle such disputes; but, failing to
reach an adjustment in this manner, the disputes may be referred by
petition of the parties or by either party to an appropriate adjustment
board, as described in subsection (b), with a full statement of the
facts and supporting data bearing upon the disputes.
``(b) Establishment of Special Boards of Adjustment.--It shall be
the duty of every maritime employer and its employees, acting through
their representatives, selected in accordance with the provisions of
this title, to establish a board of adjustment of jurisdiction not
exceeding the jurisdiction which may be lawfully exercised by system,
group, or regional boards of adjustment, under the authority of section
3.
``(c) Authority To Establish a Temporary National Board of
Adjustment.--Such boards of adjustment may be established by agreement
between employees and maritime employers either on any individual
maritime employer, or system, or group of maritime employers and any
class or classes of its or their employees; or pending the
establishment of a permanent National Board of Adjustment in accordance
with this title. Nothing in this Act shall prevent such maritime
employers, or any class or classes of their employees, both acting
through their representatives selected in accordance with provisions of
this title, from mutually agreeing to the establishment of a national
board of adjustment of temporary duration and of similarly limited
jurisdiction.
``SEC. 305. NATIONAL MARITIME ADJUSTMENT BOARD.
``(a) Establishment.--When, in the judgment of the National
Mediation Board, it shall be necessary to have a permanent National
Board of Adjustment in order to provide for the prompt and orderly
settlement of disputes between maritime employers and their employees,
growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application
of agreements between maritime employers and any class or classes of
employees, covering rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, the
National Mediation Board is hereby empowered and directed, by its order
duly made, published, and served, to direct such maritime employers and
such labor organizations of their employees, national in scope, as have
been or may be recognized in accordance with the provisions of this
Act, to select and designate four representatives who shall constitute
a board which shall be known as the `National Maritime Adjustment
Board'.
``(b) Selection of Members.--Two members of the National Maritime
Adjustment Board shall be selected by maritime employers and two
members by the labor organizations of the employees, within thirty days
after the date of the order of the National Mediation Board, in the
manner and by the procedure prescribed by title I of this Act for the
selection and designation of members of the National Railroad
Adjustment Board.
``(c) Meetings and Rules for Proceedings.--The National Maritime
Adjustment Board shall meet within forty days after the date of the
order of the National Mediation Board directing the selection and
designation of its members and shall organize and adopt rules for
conducting its proceedings, in the manner prescribed in section 3.
``(d) Vacancies; Compensation; Hearings.--Vacancies in membership
or office shall be filled, members shall be appointed in case of
failure of the maritime employers or of labor organizations of the
employees to select and designate representatives, members of the
National Maritime Adjustment Board shall be compensated, hearings shall
be held, findings and awards made, stated, served, and enforced, and
the number and compensation of any necessary assistants shall be
determined and the compensation of such employees shall be paid, all in
the same manner and to the same extent as provided with reference to
the National Railroad Adjustment Board by section 3.
``(e) Powers and Duties.--The powers and duties prescribed and
established by the provisions of section 3 with reference to the
National Railroad Adjustment Board and the several divisions thereof
are hereby conferred upon and shall be exercised and performed in like
manner and to the same extent by the National Maritime Adjustment
Board, not exceeding, however, the jurisdiction conferred upon the
National Maritime Adjustment Board by the provisions of this title.
``(f) Transfers of Jurisdiction.--From and after the organization
of the National Maritime Adjustment Board, if any system, group, or
regional board of adjustment established by any maritime employer or
employers and any class or classes of its or their employees is not
satisfactory to either party thereto, such party, upon ninety days'
notice to the other party, may elect to come under the jurisdiction of
the National Maritime Adjustment Board.
``SEC. 306. CASES PENDING IN THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD.
``All cases referred to the National Labor Relations Board, or over
which the National Labor Relations Board shall have taken jurisdiction,
involving any dispute arising from any cause between any maritime
employer engaged in interstate or foreign commerce and employees of
such maritime employer or employers, and unsettled on the date of
enactment of this title, shall be handled to conclusion by the National
Mediation Board. The books, records, and papers of the National Labor
Relations Board pertinent to such case or cases, whether settled or
unsettled, shall be transferred to the custody of the National
Mediation Board.
``SEC. 307. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary for expenditure by the Mediation Board in carrying out the
provisions of this Act.
``SEC. 308. DEFINITIONS.
``In this title:
``(1) The term `maritime employer' has the meaning given
the term `employer' in section 2(4) of the Longshore and Harbor
Workers' Compensation Act.
``(2) The term `employee' has the meaning given such term
in section 2(3) of such Act.''.
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