Executive Order 11431—Creating a Board of Inquiry to Report on Certain Labor Disputes Affecting the Maritime Industry of the United States

WHEREAS, there exist certain labor disputes between employers (or associations by which such employers are represented in collective bargaining conferences) who are (1) steamship companies or who are engaged as operators or agents for ships engaged in service from or to Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports from Searsport, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, or from or to other ports of the United States or its territories or possessions, (2) contracting stevedores, (3) contracting marine carpenters, (4) lighterage operators, or (5) other employers engaged in related or associated pier activities and certain of their employees represented by the International Longshoremen's Association, AFL–CIO; and WHEREAS, such disputes have resulted in a threatened strike which if permitted to occur, will, in my opinion, affect a substantial part of the maritime industry, an industry engaged in trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States and with foreign nations, and which strike will, if permitted to occur, imperil the national health and safety. Now, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 206 of the Labor-Management Relations Act, 1947 (61 Stat. 155; 29 U.S.C. 176), I hereby create a Board of Inquiry, consisting of: Honorable David L. Cole, as Chairman, Honorable Peter Seitz, and The Right Reverend Monsignor George G. Higgins, as Members, whom I hereby appoint to inquire into the issues involved in such disputes. The Board shall have powers and duties as set forth in Title II of such Act. The Board shall report to the President in accordance with the provisions of Section 206 of such Act on or before October 2, 1968. Upon the submission of its report, the Board shall continue in existence to perform such other functions as may be required under such Act. LYNDON B. JOHNSON The White House September 30, 1968