§ 53:2-16 — List, qualified longshoremen for employment as checkers.

11. a. The division shall establish within the longshoremen's register a list of all qualified longshoremen eligible, as hereinafter provided, for employment as checkers in the port of New York district in this State. A person shall not act as a checker within the port of New York district in this State unless at the time the person is included in the longshoremen's register as a checker, and a person shall not employ another to work as a checker within the port of New York district in this State unless at the time such other person is included in the longshoremen's register as a checker. b. Any person applying for inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker shall file at a place and in a manner as the division shall designate a written statement, signed, and verified by the applicant, setting forth the following: (1) The full name, residence, place and date of birth, and social security number of the applicant; (2) The present and previous occupations of the applicant, including the places where the applicant was employed and the names of the applicant's employers; and (3) Any further facts and evidence as may be required by the authority to ascertain the character, integrity, and identity of the applicant. c. A person shall not be included in the longshoremen's register as a checker: (1) Unless the division shall be satisfied that the applicant possesses good character and integrity; (2) If the applicant has, without subsequent pardon, been convicted by a court of the United States or any State or territory thereof, of the authority of, or the attempt or conspiracy to commit treason, murder, manslaughter, or any of the following offenses: illegally using, carrying or possessing a pistol or other dangerous weapon; making or possessing burglar's instruments; buying or receiving stolen property or a stolen motor vehicle; unlawful entry of a building; aiding an escape from prison; unlawfully possessing, possessing with intent to distribute, sale or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance or a controlled dangerous substance analog; petty larceny, where the evidence shows the property was stolen from a vessel, pier or other waterfront terminal; or a violation of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.). An applicant ineligible for inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker by reason of a conviction may submit satisfactory evidence to the division that the applicant has for a period of not less than five years, measured as hereinafter provided, and up to the time of application, so acted as to warrant inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker, in which event the division may, in its discretion, issue an order removing the applicant's ineligibility. The five-year period shall be measured either from the date of payment of any fine imposed upon that person or the suspension of sentence or from the date of the person's unrevoked release from custody by parole, commutation, or termination of sentence; or (3) If the applicant knowingly or willfully advocates the desirability of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States by force or violence or shall be a member of a group which advocates that desirability, knowing the purposes of the group advocating that desirability. d. When the application shall have been examined and further inquiry and investigation made as the division shall deem proper and when the division shall be satisfied therefrom that the applicant possesses the qualifications and requirements prescribed by this section, the division shall include the applicant in the longshoremen's register as a checker. The division may permit temporary registration as a checker to any applicant under this section pending final action on an application made for temporary registration, under the terms and conditions as the division may prescribe, which shall be valid for a period to be fixed by the division, not in excess of six months. e. The division shall have power to reprimand any checker registered under this section or to remove the person from the longshoremen's register as a checker for a period of time as the division deems in the public interest for any of the following offenses: (1) Conviction of a crime or other cause which would permit disqualification of the person from inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker upon original application; (2) Fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in securing inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker or in the conduct of the registered activity; (3) Violation of any of the provisions of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.); (4) Unlawfully possessing, possessing with intent to distribute, sale, or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance or a controlled dangerous substance analog; (5) Inducing or otherwise aiding or abetting any person to violate the terms of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.); (6) Paying, giving, causing to be paid or given, or offering to pay or give to any person any valuable consideration to induce the other person to violate any provision of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.) or to induce any public officer, agent, or employee to fail to perform the person's duty under P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.); (7) Consorting with known criminals for an unlawful purpose; (8) Transfer or surrender of possession to any person either temporarily or permanently of any card or other means of identification issued by the division as evidence of inclusion in the longshoremen's register without satisfactory explanation; or (9) False impersonation of another longshoreman or of another person licensed under P.L.2017, c.324 (C.32:23-229 et al.). f. The division shall have the right to recover possession of any card or other means of identification issued as evidence of inclusion in the longshoremen's register as a checker in the event that the holder thereof has been removed from the longshoremen's register as a checker. g. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit in any way any rights of labor reserved by section 23 of P.L.2017, c.324 (C.53:2-28). L.2017, c.324, s.11; amended 2023, c.101, s.10.