[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 3094 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
Calendar No. 262
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3094
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 1, 2011
Received
December 15, 2011
Read the first time
December 16, 2011
Read the second time and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to
representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor
organizations under that Act.
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 ``Workforce Democracy and Fairness
Act''.
SEC. 2. TIMING OF ELECTIONS.
Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ``The Board shall
decide'' and all that follows through ``Provided, That the''
and inserting: ``In each case, prior to an election, the Board
shall determine, in order to assure to employees the fullest
freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.
Unless otherwise stated in this Act, and excluding bargaining
unit determinations promulgated through rulemaking effective
before August 26, 2011, the unit appropriate for purposes of
collective bargaining shall consist of employees that share a
sufficient community of interest. In determining whether
employees share a sufficient community of interest, the Board
shall consider (1) similarity of wages, benefits, and working
conditions; (2) similarity of skills and training; (3)
centrality of management and common supervision; (4) extent of
interchange and frequency of contact between employees; (5)
integration of the work flow and interrelationship of the
production process; (6) the consistency of the unit with the
employer's organizational structure; (7) similarity of job
functions and work; and (8) the bargaining history in the
particular unit and the industry. To avoid the proliferation or
fragmentation of bargaining units, employees shall not be
excluded from the unit unless the interests of the group sought
are sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to
warrant the establishment of a separate unit. Whether
additional employees should be included in a proposed unit
shall be based on whether such additional employees and
proposed unit members share a sufficient community of interest,
with the sole exception of proposed accretions to an existing
unit, in which the inclusion of additional employees shall be
based on whether such additional employees and existing unit
members share an overwhelming community of interest and the
additional employees have little or no separate identity.
The''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(1), in the matter following
subparagraph (B)--
(A) by inserting ``, but in no circumstances less
than 14 calendar days after the filing of the
petition'' after ``hearing upon due notice'';
(B) by inserting before the last sentence the
following: ``An appropriate hearing shall be one that
is non-adversarial with the hearing officer charged, in
collaboration with the parties, with the responsibility
of identifying any relevant and material pre-election
issues and thereafter making a full record thereon.
Relevant and material pre-election issues shall
include, in addition to unit appropriateness, the
Board's jurisdiction and any other issue the resolution
of which may make an election unnecessary or which may
reasonably be expected to impact the election's
outcome. Parties may raise independently any relevant
and material pre-election issue or assert any relevant
and material position at any time prior to the close of
the hearing.'';
(C) in the last sentence--
(i) by inserting ``or consideration of a
request for review of a regional director's
decision and direction of election,'' after
``record of such hearing''; and
(ii) by inserting ``to be conducted as soon
as practicable but not less than 35 calendar
days following the filing of an election
petition'' after ``election by secret ballot'';
and
(D) by adding at the end the following: ``Not
earlier than 7 days after final determination by the
Board of the appropriate bargaining unit, the Board
shall acquire from the employer a list of all eligible
voters to be made available to all parties, which shall
include the employee names, and one additional form of
personal employee contact information (such as
telephone number, email address or mailing address)
chosen by the employee in writing.''.
Passed the House of Representatives November 30, 2011.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 262
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3094
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to
representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor
organizations under that Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 16, 2011
Read the second time and placed on the calendar