N.Y.
Executive Law Section 534-A
Legislative findings and declarations
1.
The state of New York hereby finds and declares that: In 1953, the conditions under which waterfront labor was employed within the port of New York district were depressing and degrading to such labor, resulting from the lack of any systematic method of hiring, the lack of adequate information as to the availability of employment, corrupt and discriminatory hiring practices, criminal practices, and coercion of employees or employers. Now, it continues to be in the best interest of the state to regulate activities within the port of New York district in this state to prevent such conditions and to prevent circumstances that result in waterfront laborers suffering from irregularity of employment, fear and insecurity, inadequate earnings, an unduly high accident rate, subjection to borrowing at usurious rates of interest, exploitation and extortion as the price of securing employment, a loss of respect for the law, and destruction of the dignity of an important segment of American labor, and to prevent a direct encouragement of crime which imposes a levy of greatly increased costs on food, fuel and other necessaries handled in and through the port of New York district in this state. It is in the best interest of the state to ensure that the function of loading and unloading trucks and other land vehicles at piers and other waterfront terminals should be performed, as in every other major American port, without the abuses of the public loader system, and by the carriers of freight by water, stevedores and operators of such piers and other waterfront terminals or the operators of such trucks or other land vehicles. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the state to regulate the occupations of longshore workers, stevedores, pier superintendents, hiring agents, and security officers, who are affected with a public interest, which is an exercise of the police power of this state. It is further in the best interest of the state to ensure that the method of employment of longshore workers and security officers be conducted through employment information centers to prevent grave injury to the welfare of waterfront laborers and of the people at large and to ensure the preservation of the fundamental rights and liberties of labor, the economic stability of the port of New York district in this state, and the advancement of law enforcement therein. Although law enforcement’s efforts against traditional organized crime influence have been successful, such influence remains a significant threat in the New York metropolitan area, particularly in the port. Continued oversight is essential to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory hiring practices, to eliminate labor racketeering and the victimization of legitimate union members and port businesses, and to prevent organized crime figures from directly operating at the critical points of interstate and international shipping. To preserve the safety and welfare of the state, it is the intent of this act to prevent and eradicate mismanagement, abuse of labor, coercion, corruption, prevalence of organized crime and other criminal activity, to exclude or remove from the port workforce individuals who were convicted of serious crimes or who associate with organized crime in violation of this act, to overcome discrimination and other unfair hiring practices, and to extirpate corruption and racketeering in the port of New York district in this state.
Source:
Section 534-A — Legislative findings and declarations, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EXC/534-A (updated Jul. 5, 2024; accessed Oct. 26, 2024).
