New US Bill To Prevent Port Strikes

A bill has just been launched in the United States Senate, which will effectively make port strikes illegal, following the repeated threat of strike action in Los Angeles and US West Coast ports.

The bill targets the disruption of port operations, where unions take action to reduce productivity and efficiency through strikes and go-slows. The bill also attempts to block unions from impeding any modernisation efforts. Both subjects have been primary issues during the recent West Coast labour dispute.

The bill would provide port owners with the right to sue their workers for twice the cost of revenue lost during a deemed slowdown or strike. In the case of the West Coast issues, widespread strike action could lose the ports up to $1bn dollars of revenue per day, therefore the bill would enable them to sue workers for $2bn per day.

The bill would need to be be voted upon and ratified before becoming law and will clearly have opposition. However, it does follow a Supreme Court ruling this month, which says that ports have a standing to sue for damages for economic loss incurred during strike action.

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