§ 534-A — Legislative findings and declarations

§ 534-a. Legislative findings and declarations. 1. The state of New\nYork hereby finds and declares that:\n In 1953, the conditions under which waterfront labor was employed\nwithin the port of New York district were depressing and degrading to\nsuch labor, resulting from the lack of any systematic method of hiring,\nthe lack of adequate information as to the availability of employment,\ncorrupt and discriminatory hiring practices, criminal practices, and\ncoercion of employees or employers. Now, it continues to be in the best\ninterest of the state to regulate activities within the port of New York\ndistrict in this state to prevent such conditions and to prevent\ncircumstances that result in waterfront laborers suffering from\nirregularity of employment, fear and insecurity, inadequate earnings, an\nunduly high accident rate, subjection to borrowing at usurious rates of\ninterest, exploitation and extortion as the price of securing\nemployment, a loss of respect for the law, and destruction of the\ndignity of an important segment of American labor, and to prevent a\ndirect encouragement of crime which imposes a levy of greatly increased\ncosts on food, fuel and other necessaries handled in and through the\nport of New York district in this state.\n It is in the best interest of the state to ensure that the function of\nloading and unloading trucks and other land vehicles at piers and other\nwaterfront terminals should be performed, as in every other major\nAmerican port, without the abuses of the public loader system, and by\nthe carriers of freight by water, stevedores and operators of such piers\nand other waterfront terminals or the operators of such trucks or other\nland vehicles. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the state to\nregulate the occupations of longshore workers, stevedores, pier\nsuperintendents, hiring agents, and security officers, who are affected\nwith a public interest, which is an exercise of the police power of this\nstate. It is further in the best interest of the state to ensure that\nthe method of employment of longshore workers and security officers be\nconducted through employment information centers to prevent grave injury\nto the welfare of waterfront laborers and of the people at large and to\nensure the preservation of the fundamental rights and liberties of\nlabor, the economic stability of the port of New York district in this\nstate, and the advancement of law enforcement therein.\n Although law enforcement's efforts against traditional organized crime\ninfluence have been successful, such influence remains a significant\nthreat in the New York metropolitan area, particularly in the port.\nContinued oversight is essential to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory\nhiring practices, to eliminate labor racketeering and the victimization\nof legitimate union members and port businesses, and to prevent\norganized crime figures from directly operating at the critical points\nof interstate and international shipping.\n To preserve the safety and welfare of the state, it is the intent of\nthis act to prevent and eradicate mismanagement, abuse of labor,\ncoercion, corruption, prevalence of organized crime and other criminal\nactivity, to exclude or remove from the port workforce individuals who\nwere convicted of serious crimes or who associate with organized crime\nin violation of this act, to overcome discrimination and other unfair\nhiring practices, and to extirpate corruption and racketeering in the\nport of New York district in this state.\n