[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 333 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 333

 Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to a dispute between the 
   Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and 
                            Warehouse Union.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 4, 2002

Mr. Hutchinson (for himself, Mr. Lott, Mr. Helms, Mr. Hagel, Mr. Burns, 
   Mr. Craig, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Allard, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Crapo, Mr. 
  Ensign, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Bond, Mr. Frist, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Hatch) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
               on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate relating to a dispute between the 
   Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and 
                            Warehouse Union.

Whereas the ongoing dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association and the 
        International Longshore and Warehouse Union, relating to a collective 
        bargaining agreement, has shut down 29 West Coast ports;
Whereas this dispute has sent harmful economic reverberations far beyond the 
        shipping industry, the West Coast, or even the borders of the United 
        States;
Whereas 7 percent of the Nation's gross domestic product travels through those 
        ports and the flow of goods in and out of those ports is critical to the 
        operation of businesses, farms, and factories, and the business of 
        retailers and consumers, all across the United States;
Whereas the stay of all West Coast transport by sea has already prevented 
        farmers from selling their crops, shut down manufacturing plants, idled 
        trucks and trains, and precluded consumers from purchasing goods;
Whereas, due to the interruption of the flow of commerce caused by the dispute, 
        thousands of persons in the United States have been laid off and are 
        living without a paycheck through no fault of their own;
Whereas the United States is already enduring an economic recession and high 
        unemployment; and
Whereas if the shutdown of those ports continues, the shutdown will present a 
        serious threat to the Nation's safety and health: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the Pacific Maritime Association and the International 
        Longshore and Warehouse Union should enter into mediation to 
        resolve the dispute, adopt 24-hour extensions of the expired 
        collective bargaining agreement, and end the current lockout; 
        and
            (2) if the Pacific Maritime Association and the 
        International Longshore and Warehouse Union do not reach a 
        settlement or reopen the ports through that mediation during a 
        reasonable period (as determined by the President), the 
        President should appoint a board of inquiry, to begin the 
        emergency dispute-settling procedure under the Labor-Management 
        Relations Act, 1947.
                                 <all>