Document 7004e3gvJpNOeGrexkOzEmvqe

FILE NAME: Shipbuilders Council of America (SHIP) DATE: 1972 Dec 13 DOC#: SHIP003 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Minutes of SCA Special Meeting on Longshoremen1 and Harbor Workers Compensation Act PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT s c SBCAS025 SH IPBU ILD ERS COUNCIL O F AM ERICA S P E C IA L M EETIN G .O N - * LO N G SH O R EM EN 'S AND HA RBO R WORKERS* C O M PEN SA TIO N ACT D EC EM B ER 13, 1972 In acco rd an ce w ith le tte r to A ll S hipyard D eleg ates dated N ovem ber 28, 1972, a sp ecial m eeting of sh ip y ard re p re se n ta tiv e s w as held at the W a te rg a te H o te l D e c e m b e r 13, 1972 to d is c u s s th e ra m ific a tio n s o f P u b lic Law 92-576, the L o n g sh o re m e n 's and H a rb o r W o rk e rs' C o m p en satio n A ct A m en d m en ts of 1972.. . E . P . Ruddy, S e c re ta ry of the C ouncil p re sid ed . . t T he follow ing, re p re se n tin g i h ip y ard s, w ere p re se n t: D orothy A lleback H enry Brow n W illiam B utler M. J. C arroll H arry F ish er M . R . G uy R, M. H artm an M ichael L. H a rris H a rry G. H ill H arold Knebel R. L. N orsw orthy V. G. Noel R ichard J. Q uerrey Edw ard Renshaw . M. P . Redford Lloyd R ials R obert F, Sherm an J . S-. S t r a t t o n R. A. Stubblefield C harles F. T ucker J. D. W echsler D elm ar J. Young Sun Shipbuilding D ravo C orporation Sun Shipbuilding Jeffboat Todd Shipyards B ethlehem Steel B ethlehem Steel Jeffboat Todd Shipyards St, L ouis Shipbuilding N ew port News Shipbuilding D ravo C orporation St. L ouis Shipbuilding St. L ouis Shipbuilding Norfolk Shipbuilding N ew port News Shipbuilding Savannah M achine & Shipyard Ingalls Shipbuilding N ew port News Shipbuilding N o rfo lk S hipbuilding & D. D. Ingalls Shipbuilding K aiser E ngineers The follow ing w ere g u ests of the C ouncil at the m eeting: Eugene M ittelm an John E . Stocker John Sidw ar kilnority G eneral Counsel Senate C om m ittee on L abor and P ublic W elfare A cting D eputy D ire c to r, O ffice of W o rk m e n 's C om pensation P ro g ra m s D ep artm en t of L abor O ffic e o f W orkmen's Compensation P rogram s, Department of Labor The m eeting w as called to o rd e r a t 9:45 and a fte r g e n e ra l announce m en t and in tro d u ctio n s, M r. Ruddy d e sc rib e d b rie fly the organ izatio n and re p re se n ta tiv e p o sitio n of the S hipbuilders C ouncil of A m erica in the U, S. shipbuilding and ship re p a ir in d u stry . The purpose of the sp ecial m eeting w as then explained as a m eeting of a p p ro p ria te re p re se n ta tiv e s fro m the m em b er sh ip y ard s fo r an in fo rm al exchange of view s and the p ossible developm ent of unified in d u stry p o sitio n s pn the am ended A ct w hich b ecam e effective N ovem ber 27, 1972. It w as pointed o u t th a t w h atev er reco m m en d atio n s cam e out of the m eetin g w ould have to be a cte d on by the B o ard of D ire c to rs of the C ouncil. At th is point, M r. M ittelm an a rriv e d and w as introduced. The ch air then asked fo r a re p o rt by M r. E dw ard R enshaw , P re sid e n t of St. Louis Shipbuilding, on a m eeting th at had b een held in New O rlean s D ecem b er 4 by the Shipbuilding C om m ittee of the A m erican W aterw ays, of w hich he is a m em b er, fo r d isc u ssio n of th e new am endm ents to the A ct. M r. R enshaw is also a m em b er of the Shipbuilders C ouncil and is R egional V ice P re sid e n t, Inland R iv e rs. M r. R enshaw re p o rte d th a t the D e ce m b e r 4 m eetin g of AWO had been atten d ed by re p re se n ta tiv e s of a la rg e n u m b er of the sm a lle r sh ip y ard s w ith em ploym ent in the individual y a rd s running fro m as sm a ll as 50 up to s e v e ra l thousands of em ployees. He noted that a ll asp ects of the am endm ent had been d iscu ssed at the m eeting but th at th e g re a te s t concern, by fa r, w as the extension of ju r is d ictio n to c o v e r a ll sh ipbuilding and sh ip re p a ir em p lo y e es. It.a p p e a re d th at the m a jo rity of the y a rd s w ere booked w ell in advance w ith fixed p ric e c o n tra c ts and th e re is no w ay to reco u p the ad d itio n al co st a risin g fro m the am endm ents. O ne y a r d o f a b o u t 1, 300 e m p lo y e e s w a s r e p o r t e d to h a v e e s ti m a te d th a t it w ould su sta in a lo s s of about o n e-h alf m illio n d o lla rs . O th er y ard s re p o rte d e stim a te s of p o ten tial lo sse s w hich v a rie d fro m s ta te -to -s ta te depending on the lev el of state com pensation benefits, M r. R enshaw noted th a t o th er fe a tu re s of the leg islatio n d iscu ssed at the m eeting included the co n cern th a t 6 6 -2 /3 of the em p lo y ee's w eekly w age ap p ro ach ed the tak e-h o m e pay of the em ployee and th e re w ould be g re a t d iffic u lty in g ettin g p eo p le b a ck to w o rk on ce on c o m p en sa tio n . A lso, the new rig h t of s e le c tio n of the d o c to r by the em p lo y ee w as fe lt to be a m o st u n w elco m e change w hich w ould le a d to m a lin g e rin g . He noted, how ever, that o v errid in g a ll of this w as the extension of ju risd ic tio n . - 3- M r. R e n s h a w r e p o r t e d t h a t th e AWO S h ip b u ild in g C o m m itte e `'h ad fo rm ed a com m ittee of five, rep resen tin g geographically the sm all y ard s, to plan a c o u rse of actio n hopefully as a jo in t v e n tu re w ith a s im ila r sm a ll g ro u p re p re se n tin g the S hipbuilders C ouncil the thought being th at th e re should be unified in d u stry effo rt to seek som e re lie f-fro m the am endm ents w hich w ere fe lt to be d is c rim in a to ry a g a in st th e sh ip y ard in d u stry . R esponding to an in q u iry as to how the y a rd s had p ric e d out the p o te n tia l added co sts, M r. R enshaw re p o rte d th a t d iscu ssio n w ith the u n d e rw rite rs and national com pensation board d isclo sed th at the in c re ase d benefits and ju risd ic tio n change w ould ra is e b a se ra te s fo r the f ir s t y e a r fro m about $5 o r $6 to o v e r $13 p e r $100 o f p a y r o ll. D uring the d iscu ssio n w hich follow ed, a nu m b er of points w ere m ade including the follow ing: * In the Inland R iv ers y ard s b efo re enactm ent of P L 92-576, the state c o v e ra g e of em p lo y e es w as ab o u t 95 p e rc e n t w hile th e F e d e ra l w as fro m 3 to 5 p e rc e n t. U n d e r th e a m e n d m e n ts , n e a r ly 100 p e r c e n t a r e c o v e re d by the F e d e ra l A ct. . * In a ty p ic a l sh ip r e p a ir y a rd , c o v e ra g e p r io r to th e new A ct w as 75 p e rc e n t F e d e r a l and o n ly 25 p e rc e n t by th e s ta te , 'w h ile in sh ipbuilding as o p p o sed to r e p a ir , ab o u t 75 p e rc e n t of th e y a r d 's e m p lo y e es w e re u n d e r state coverage. Thus the ju risd ictio n al change had a m uch g re a te r im pact on shipbuilding y ard s than in ship re p a ir. * Q uestion w as ra is e d as to how the hew am endm ents should be in te r p re te d w ith re g a rd to co v erag e and the point was m ade th at the am endm ents could be in te rp re te d to m ean th a t ev ery b o d y th a t w alks in th e g ate of a sh ip y ard is now covered. * C ertain office people, even though w ithin the g ate, m ay not be covered. * In th e S ta te o f W a s h in g to n , a p r e l i m i n a r y ru lin g h a s b e e n is s u e d holding that the only people s till covered by the State A ct a re c le ric a l. * It w as recognized that clean cut in terp retatio n s of the ju risd ictio n change m ay u ltim a te ly have to be m ade by the C o u rts but the a p p aren t in ten t is to end a situ a tio n w heretw i m en in a sh ip y ard on the sam e kind of w ork could be un d er d ifferen t statu tes m e re ly b ecau se of the location of the w ork. - 4- %U F u rth e r d iscu ssio n of th is la s t point b ro u g h t out th at during the h earin g s it w as clea rly understood by the C ongress that except fo r a few y a rd s, the sh ip y ard in d u stry w as opposed to th e expansion of coverage throughout the y ard . H ow ever, the C ongress m ade a d e li b e ra te choice to so expand the F e d e ra l ju risd ic tio n w ith the p rim a ry re a s o n being to b rin g an end to th is a n o m aly of tw o m e n w ith the sa m e in ju ry receiving d isp a ra te ly d ifferen t benefits b ecau se of the location in the y ard w here in ju ry o c c u rre d . It w as re p o rte d th a t at one point the C o n g ress did consider, am ending the law to p ro v id e th a t w ithin a c e rta in g eographic a re a a ll w ould be co v ered . H ow ever, this ap p ro ach w as abandoned. T h e fo llo w in g w as q u o ted fr o m p ag e 75 o f th e p rin te d " L e g is la tiv e H isto ry " of the A ct by M r. M ittelm an in sup p o rt of h is explanation of the ju risd ic tio n a l change: " . . . The C om m ittee does not intend to cover em ployees who a re not engaged in loading, unloading, rep airin g , o r building a v e sse l, ju st b ecau se th ey a re in ju red in an a re a adjoining navigable w aters used fo r such activ ity . T hus, .N e m p lo y e e s w h o s e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y is o n ly to p ic k u p s t o r e d carg o fo r fu rth e r tra n s -s h ip m e n t w ould not be co v ered , n o r w ould p u re ly c le ric a l em ployees w hose jobs do not re q u ire th e m to p a rtic ip a te in th e loading o r unloading of c arg o . H ow ever, ch ec k e rs, fo r exam ple, who a re d ire c tly involved in the loading o r unloading functions a re co v ered by the new am endm ent. L ikew ise the C om m ittee has no intention of extending c o v erag e u n d er the A ct to in d iv id u als who a re not em ployed by a p e rso n who is an em ployer, i.e . a p erso n at le a s t som e of w hose em ployees a re engaged, in whole o r in p a rt in som e fo rm of m a ritim e em ploym ent. Thus, an individual em ployed by a p erso n none of w hose em ployees w ork, in w hole o r in p a rt, on navigable w a te rs, is not covered even if in ju red on a p ie r adjoining navigable w aters. " M r. M ittelm an em p h asized th at th is language m ean t that the in ten t is to c o v e r a ll blue c o lla r em p lo y ees engaged in building o r re p a irin g but not everyone who w orks in the y ard . It also w as em p h asized in the d isc u ssio n th at no b ill could have b een re p o rte d out of the C o n g ressio n al C om m ittee th a t did not com ply w ith the re p o rt of the N ational C o m m issio n on S tate W o rk m en 's C om pen satio n L aw s. H ow ever, th is w as not a stum bling block; the big p ro b lem w as to d ra ft a b ill w hich would effe ctiv ely e lim in a te th e th ird p a rty su its - 5- b ased on the w arran ty of seaw o rth in ess. ^ M r, M ittelm an also rem inded the group th at the extension of ju r is dictio n w as only a p relu d e to a fu tu re adoption of the F e d e ra l benefit lev els by a ll of the sta te s and th a t the co n sid eratio n and enactm ent of n atio n al w o rk m en 's co m p en satio n stan d ard s w ill be a high p rio rity ite m a t the 93rd C o n g ress. (See statem en t by S enator Javits attached to th ese m inutes). A nother elem en t pointed to as having been co n sid ered in the d e c i sion to go fo rw ard w ith an ex ten sio n of ju risd ic tio n w as th a t m an y in the C o n g re ss saw the b ill as a w ay to eq u alize c o sts betw een sh ip y ard s in v ario u s sections of the country. The elim ination of com petitive d isp arities betw een y a rd s in d iffe re n t a re a s w as sta te d as being a firm goal co n sid ered by the Senate C om m ittee. It w as also pointed out th at the C om m ittee re p o rt on the b ill was d ra fte d a fte r the N ational C om m ission re p o rt had becom e available in d ra ft fo rm and that the C om m ittee had taken the re p o rt into c o n sid e ra tion in considering the b ill. D isc u ssio n b y th e s h ip y a rd re p re s e n ta tiv e s p re s e n t see m e d to c o n firm the understanding th at the am ended Act ap p lies to a ll shipbuilding and ship re p a ir em ployees w ithin the p e rim e te r of the y ard . On the question of why the expansion of ju risd ic tio n w as not applied to o th e r fa c ilitie s along the w a terfro n t, such as a ste e l m ill w hich has som e m arin e loading and unloading fa c ilitie s, it w as explained th at the r a t i o n a l e w a s t h a t to do so w a s n o t r e a l l y p r a c t i c a l b e c a u s e "y o u co u ld not stop th e re . " T he re s u lt w ould have been a n atio n al w o rk m en 's co m p en satio n statu te p ro p o sa l w hich w ould have b een too fa r afield p o litic a lly fro m the leg islatio n u n d er co nsideration. One of those p re s e n t noted th a t if anyone co v ered u n d er the state act, such as a c le rk o r office w o rk er, goes ab o ard a v e sse l and is injured and coverage is handled under the state act, then the exclusive liab ility p ro v isio n of the F e d e ra l statu te no lo n g er p ro te c ts the em ployee fro m the' th ird p a rty su it exposure p ro v isio n in the new am endm ents. T h ere w as a g re em e n t by the atto rn ey s p re se n t th at the am endm ents a re co n stitu tio n al and th a t am ple a u th o rity a p p e a rs to e x ist u n d er the c o m m e rc e clause of th e C o n stitu tio n . W ith re g a rd to the new p ro v isio n s on th e ch o ice of the p h y sician by the em ployee, p ro b lem s can be kept at a m inim um by providing v ery good m ed ical c a re . It w as explained th at the am endm ents a re p attern ed after New Y ork com pensation p ro ced u re and experience. S hortly b efo re the m eeting adjourned, the follow ing m otion w as o ffered to the group and adopted by th o se p re se n t. R esolved, T hat an ad hoc group fro m the S h ipbuilders' C ouncil be e sta b lish e d to w ork w ith the ad hoc C om m ittee of the S hipbuilders' C om m ittee of the A m erican W aterw ays O p e ra to rs, In c ., to ex p lo re pos sib le. re lie f fro m the e co nom ic effect of th a t p a r t of th e 1972 A m endm ents to the L o n g sh o re m e n 's and H a rb o r W o rk e rs' C om pensation Act. w hich c all fo r the ex ten sio n of ju risd ic tio n to in clu d e all em ployees engaged in shipbuilding o r ship re p a irin g . . The follow ing com panies in d icated an in te re s t in serv in g on the C ouncil ad hoc g roup if fo rm ed - Ingalls Shipbuilding, D ravo, St. Louis Shipbuilding, and N ew port News Shipbuilding. f The group re c e s s e d at noon fo r luncheon in the T e rra c e Room of the W atergate and w ere joined by M essrs S tocker and Sidw ar of the O ffice of W o rk m en 's C o m pensation P ro g ra m s . D uring the aftern o o n sessio n , the re p re se n ta tiv e s of the O ffice of W o rk m en 's C om p en satio n P ro g ra m s o u tlin ed the change in law contained in the new leg islatio n and d isclo se d th at re v ised reg u latio n s a re being d ra fte d to cover- the changes. The d ra ft re g u la tio n s w e re to be a v ailab le b e fo re y e a r 's end b u t c o n tr a r y to p re v io u s r e p o r ts it w as indicated that th e 30 d a y s f o r p u b lic c o m m e n t p r i o r to a d o p tio n w o u ld n o t b e availab le. In th is context, th o se p re s e n t w ere asked to su b m it any view s and re c o m m en d atio n s as p ro m p tly as p o ssib le and not to w ait fo r the issu a n c e of d raft regulations. D uring d iscu ssio n , M r. S tocker d istrib u te d se v e ra l proposed fo rm s to a ll p re s e n t w hich w e re d e sc rib e d as fo r u se in connection w ith se le c tio n of p h y sician and the re p o rtin g of claim s. T he q u e stio n of s e lf in s u r e r v e rs u s in s u ra n c e c o v e ra g e le d to a su g g e stio n th at the ru le s fo r s e lf-in s u re rs m ight be u sefu l f o r review by the sh ip y ard re p re se n ta tiv e s. A re p rin t of the c u rre n t ru le s now undergoing revision is attached. - It is u n d ersto o d th at the re v isio n s to be m ade a re quite m inor. T h e m e e tin g a d jo u rn e d a t 3:15 p. m .