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Appeals court backs Waterfront Commission's anti-discriminatory hiring policy

A US Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling and the New York-NJ Waterfront Commission's view that it was within its authority to enforce federal non-discriminatory policy in the hiring of women and minorities as longshoremen.

The appeals court dismissed claims that the Waterfront Commission unlawfully interfered with collective bargaining rights - holding that such rights were not protected under the Waterfront Commission Compact, a 1953 agreement between New Jersey and New York.

The compact created the commission to address a perception of widespread corruption in hiring on the New York-New Jersey waterfront, reported the New Jersey Law Journal.

"Can it seriously be argued that racial discrimination in hiring (or anywhere, for that matter), is not a corrupt practice?" Judge Richard Nygaard wrote, joined by Judges Julio Fuentes and Jane Roth.

The Waterfront Commission's general counsel, Phoebe Sorial, called the Third Circuit ruling "a blow" to the International Longshoremen's Association's grip on hiring.

The case stems from a plan by the employers of the New York Shipping Association and the union, International Longshoremen's Association to add 600 new employees in 2013. The Waterfront Commission directed that the groups certify that each new hire was selected in accordance with federal and state equal opportunity laws.

Labour unions and trade associations sued the commission in 2014, seeking a preliminary injunction against implementation of the Waterfront Commission's antidiscrimination requirements. but the lower court rejected the bid for a preliminary injunction.

The appellants argued that because the 1953 compact did not mention racial discrimination, any amendment designed to ensure non-discriminatory hiring practices cannot further the compact's purposes.