I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secret Ballot Protec5 tion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the importance of a secret ballot election 

2 has been recognized by the United States for over 

3 100 years; 

4 (2) the fundamental democratic right to choose 

5 by secret ballot is the only method that ensures a 

6 choice free of coercion, intimidation, irregularity, or 

7 illegality; 

8 (3) the recognition of a labor organization by 

9 way of a private agreement, rather than a secret bal10 lot election supervised by a neutral third party, 

11 threatens an employee’s right, codified in the Na12 tional Labor Relations Act, to choose whether or not 

13 to be represented by a labor organization; and 

14 (4) preserving workers’ right to choose whether 

15 or not to be represented by a labor organization 

16 through a secret ballot election is important to the 

17 strength of the national economy. 

18 SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT. 

19 (a) RECOGNITION OF REPRESENTATIVE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(a)(2) of the Na21 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is 

22 amended by inserting before the colon the following: 

23 ‘‘or to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor 

24 organization that has not been selected by a major25 ity of employees in a unit appropriate for such purVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:14 Jun 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2346.IH H2346

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1 poses in a secret ballot election conducted by the 

2 Board in accordance with section 9’’. 

3 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

4 paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bar5 gaining relationships that were recognized before the 

6 date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) ELECTION REQUIRED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(b) of the National 

9 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)), as amend10 ed by subsection (c) of this section, is amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para12 graph (6); 

13 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

14 paragraph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(8) to cause or attempt to cause an employer 

17 to recognize or bargain collectively with a represent18 ative of a labor organization that has not been se19 lected by a majority of employees in a unit appro20 priate for such purposes in a secret ballot election 

21 conducted by the Board in accordance with section 

22 9.’’. 

23 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

24 paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective barVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:14 Jun 19, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2346.IH H2346

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1 gaining relationships that were recognized before the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (c) SECRET BALLOT ELECTION REQUIRED.— 

4 (1) DESIGNATION OF REPRESENTATIVE BY SE5 CRET BALLOT.—Section 9(a) of the National Labor 

6 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), is amended— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and 

8 (B) by inserting after ‘‘designated or se9 lected’’ the following: ‘‘by a secret ballot elec10 tion conducted by the Board in accordance with 

11 this section’’. 

12 (2) DECERTIFICATION.—Such section is further 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) The Board shall conduct a secret ballot 

15 election to determine whether a labor organization 

16 certified or recognized by an employer as the rep17 resentative for the purposes of collective bargaining 

18 is no longer the representative of a unit as defined 

19 in paragraph (1).’’. 

20 (3) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by 

21 paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bar22 gaining relationships that were recognized before the 

23 date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 9(c)(1) of 

25 such Act (29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and that 

3 their employer declines to recognize their rep4 resentative as the representative defined in sec5 tion 9(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘by a representative’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘section 

8 9(a);’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a),’’; and 

9 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘alleging’’ 

10 and all that follows through ‘‘defined in section 

11 9(a)’’. 

12 SEC. 4. REGULATIONS. 

13 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, the National Labor Relations Board shall re15 view and revise all regulations promulgated before such 

16 date to implement the amendments made in this Act to 

17 the National Labor Relations Act. 

Æ 


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