Secret Ballot Protection Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for: (1) an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor organization that has not been selected by a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and (2) a labor organization to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a representative that has not been selected in such manner.
Requires the NLRB to conduct a secret ballot election to determine whether a labor organization certified or recognized by an employer as the representative to bargain collectively is no longer the representative of a unit (decertification).
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2346 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2346
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 13, 2013
Mr. Roe of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. Kline, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Wilson of
South Carolina, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Marchant, Mr. Thompson of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Rokita, Mr. Bucshon, Mr.
Gowdy, Mrs. Roby, Mr. Heck of Nevada, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Duncan of
Tennessee, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Fincher, Mr. Griffin of
Arkansas, and Mr. Long) 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Secret Ballot Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the importance of a secret ballot election has been
recognized by the United States for over 100 years;
(2) the fundamental democratic right to choose by secret
ballot is the only method that ensures a choice free of
coercion, intimidation, irregularity, or illegality;
(3) 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
(4) 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.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.
(a) Recognition of Representative.--
(1) 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
Board in accordance with section 9''.
(2) 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.
(b) Election Required.--
(1) 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--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph
(6);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(7) and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) 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 Board in accordance with
section 9.''.
(2) 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.
(c) Secret Ballot Election Required.--
(1) Designation of representative by secret ballot.--
Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C.
159(a)), is amended--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)''; and
(B) by inserting after ``designated or selected''
the following: ``by a secret ballot election conducted
by the Board in accordance with this section''.
(2) Decertification.--Such section is further amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(2) The Board shall conduct a secret ballot election to
determine whether a labor organization certified or recognized
by an employer as the representative for the purposes of
collective bargaining is no longer the representative of a unit
as defined in paragraph (1).''.
(3) 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.
(d) Conforming Amendments.--Section 9(c)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C.
159(c)(1)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (A)--
(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
(B) in clause (ii), by striking ``section 9(a);''
and inserting ``subsection (a),''; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``alleging'' and all
that follows through ``defined in section 9(a)''.
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 6 months after the date of 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions hearings held.
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