Potter Stewart

“ Both the committee which devised the assessment formula and the one which later ruled on claims of inequities were made up entirely of carriers; neither committee had a single member who was a stevedoring contractor or terminal operator.↑ The petitioner is the largest shipper of dry cargo by charter to West Coast ports. It ships more than 75% of its vehicles by charter and most of the rest by common carriers which are not members of the Association. About two-thirds of all automobiles imported through West Coast ports are Volkswagens. ”

“ The primary function of the Association is to negotiate and administer collective bargaining contracts with unions representing its members' employees, of which the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) is one. in late 1960 the Association and ILWU reached a milestone agreement which, it was hoped, would end a long and troubled history of labor discord on the West Coast waterfront. ”

“ That section provides that there be filed with the Commission 'every agreement' among persons subject to the Act
'fixing or regulating transportation rates or fares; giving or receiving special rates, accommodations, or other special privileges or advantages; controlling, regulating, preventing or destroying competition; pooling or apportioning earnings, losses, or traffic; allotting ports or restricting or otherwise regulating the number and character of sailing between ports; limiting or regulating in any way the volume or character of freight or passenger traffic to be carried ”

“ To limit § 15 to agreements that 'affect competition,' as the Commission used that phrase in the present case, simply does not square with the structure of the statute. [23]
The legislative history offers no support for a different view. The genesis of the Shipping Act was the 'Alexander Report' in 1914. ”

“ The ILWU agreed to the introduction of labor-saving devices and the elimination of certain restrictive work practices. In return, the Association agreed to create over the period from 1961 to 1966 a 'Mechanization and Modernization Fund' of $29,000,000 (the Mech Fund) to be used to mitigate the impact upon employees of technological unemployment. [2] The agreement specifically reserved to the Association alone the right to determine how to raise the Mech Fund from its members, at the rate of some $5,000,000 a year. ”

“ A committee of the Association investigated various possible formulas for collecting the Fund from the stevedoring contractors and terminal operators-i.e., those Association members who were employers of workers represented by the ILWU. A majority of the committee recommended that the Mech Fund assessment be based solely on tonnage handled, and this recommendation was adopted by the Association membership. [3] Under this formula, general cargo was assessed at 27 1/2¢ per 'revenue ton.' [4] A revenue ton is based either on weight (2,000 1bs.=one ton) or measurement (40 cu. ft.=one ton) . ”

“ Assessment by measurement rather than by weight thus resulted in an assessment rate for the petitioner's automobiles of 10 times that for other West Coast cargo-although automobiles had less to gain than other cargo from the Mech Fund agreement. [8] The petitioner and Terminals both protested these seeming inequities to a committee of the Association set up to handle such claims, but without success. ”

“ In December 1961, the rates were increased to 28 1/2¢ for general cargo and 9¢ for bulk cargo.↑ On chartered vessels automobiles are manifested on a unit basis (showing weight and sometimes measurement) . On common carriers both weight and measurement are shown. In coastwise trade automobiles are manifested by weight.↑ Some time after the assessment agreement was implemented, Terminals' charge to the petitioner exclusive of the assessment decreased. ”

“ The amount of the decrease does not appear in the record.↑ These figures represent a weighted average of the petitioner's two model lines at the time of the assessment agreement. Passenger models were 0.8 ton by weight and 7.8 tons by measurement; unloading costs initially increased an estimated 22%. Transporter models were 1.1 tons by weight and 11.4 tons by measurement; unloading costs initially increased an estimated 31%.↑ When the Mech Fund agreement was reached, the unloading of automobiles was already so highly mechanized that there was little likelihood of improvement. ”

“ Hence shippers of automobiles stood to receive from the agreement only the general benefits of a stable labor situation, such as freedom from strikes and slowdowns.↑ The committee did make downward adjustments for scrap metal and lumber.↑ By virtue of the Association's bylaws, carriers control the Board of Directors and all membership votes. ”