Governors to Intervene in Port Labor Disputes

Legislation that would amend the federal Taft-Hartley Act to allow governors to intervene in port labor disputes rather than being required to ask the White House to do so was introduced in the U.S. Congress last week by Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The legislation has been welcomed by the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association. 

“The nation’s ports and the cargo that flows through them are the lifeblood of our economy,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said. “Our ports need to function and operate before, during and after any port labor contract negotiation, and this bill would make it easier to be sure that remains the case. The supply chain needs predictability to work and should remain free from any man-made disasters — be it delays, disruptions, slowdowns, shutdown or strikes.”

The Protecting Orderly and Responsible Transit of Shipments or PORTS Act, introduced by Gardner, would grant states new powers under Taft-Hartley so governors could examine the economic harm of port disruptions and petition federal courts to intervene. Under current law, that request could only come from the president. 

The bill has the support of over 100 business and trade associations including the Agricultural Transportation Coalition, Consumer Electronics Association, National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These organizations representing farmers, retailers, transportation providers, wholesalers and other supply chain stakeholders signed a coalition letter organized by NRF.

“This bill is critical to ensure that port disruptions resulting from labor contract negotiations do not negatively impact the U.S. economy,” the letter said. “We believe this is a tool that will help provide certainty to future negotiations.”