The lack of flexibility under the act. particularly with respect to remote areas. prevented the various interests from reaching the logical agreement to allow employment of U.S. longshore workers to the extent available while filling in with alien crew from the carriers as needed. As a result. the costly process continued of filing attestations for every potential transshipment location. with the ILWU filing challenges. The basic problem is that the system established under the Immigration Act to determine the prevailing practice was apparently designed for established port areas throughout the entire United States but it has proven peculiarly unworkable in remote locations in Alaska. A technical amendment to the act is necessary if there is to be a mechanism to allow alien crew to perform longshore work on board their vessels in remote fishing grounds in Alaska where there is little or no infrastructure or available U.S. labor but where product transfers from fish processing vessels to the carriers have historically and necessarily occurred. Under current law. it is unclear whether alien crew may be used in these locations. even if there are no U.S. longshore workers available for this particular employment.
Keywords matched
Immigration