I
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 972
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2011
Mr. Roe of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. Kline, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Walberg, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Hanna, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Gowdy, Mrs. Noem, Mrs. Roby, Mr. Heck, Mr. Ross of Florida, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Jordan, and Mr. Mulvaney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of employees to a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Secret Ballot Protection
Act
.
Findings
Congress finds that—
the importance of a secret ballot election has been recognized by the United States for over 100 years;
the fundamental democratic right to choose by secret ballot is the only method that ensures a choice free of coercion, intimidation, irregularity, or illegality;
the recognition of a labor organization by way of a private agreement, rather than a secret ballot election supervised by a neutral third party, threatens an employee’s right, codified in the National Labor Relations Act, to choose whether or not to be represented by a labor organization; and
preserving workers’ right to choose whether or not to be represented by a labor organization through a secret ballot election is important to the strength of the national economy.
National Labor Relations Act
Recognition of representative
In general
Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is amended by inserting before the colon the following:
or to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor organization that
has not been selected by a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for such
purposes in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations
Board in accordance with section 9
.
Application
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships that were recognized before the date of enactment of this Act.
Election required
In general
Section 8(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)), as amended by subsection (c) of this section, is amended—
by striking
and
at the end of paragraph (6);
by striking the
period at the end of paragraph (7) and inserting ; and
;
and
by adding at the end the following:
to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a representative of a labor organization that has not been selected by a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board in accordance with section 9.
.
Application
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships that were recognized before the date of enactment of this Act.
Secret ballot election required
Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), is amended—
by inserting
(1)
after (a)
;
by inserting after
designated or selected
the following: by a secret ballot
election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board in accordance with
this section
; and
by adding at the end the following:
The secret ballot election requirement of paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships that were recognized before the date of enactment of the Secret Ballot Protection Act.
.
Conforming amendments
Section 9(c)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)) is amended—
in subparagraph (A)—
in clause (i), by
striking and that their employer declines to recognize their
representative as the representative defined in section 9(a)
and
inserting by a representative
; and
in clause (ii), by
striking section 9(a);
and inserting subsection
(a),
; and
in subparagraph
(B), by striking alleging
and all that follows through
defined in section 9(a)
.
Regulations
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act the National Labor Relations Board shall review and revise all regulations promulgated before such date to implement the amendments made in this Act to the National Labor Relations Act.