*§ 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.

* NB Effective June 30, 2024