A bill to dissolve a bi-state commission created to guard against unfair hiring practices and organized crime infiltration in the shipping industry was approved by the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

The measure is co-sponsored by Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), and Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), whose districts include shipping terminals in Elizabeth and Newark. Lesniak, a member of the committee, said during today’s hearing that, … the commission had overstepped its regulatory authority by interfering with the hiring of longshoremen, thereby contributing to a labor shortage that threatened the financial health of the port, an economic engine for the region.

His arguments echoed assertions in a lawsuit against the waterfront commission filed jointly by the International Longshoremen’s Association union and the New York Shipping Association, the port’s main employers’ group. However, a federal judge dismissed the suit, a decision the union and the shipping association have appealed.

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