I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3078

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system 

to enable employees to form or become members of labor organizations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of New York, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 

ABERCROMBIE, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SERRANO, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, and Ms. WOOLSEY) 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 establish 

an efficient system to enable employees to form or become members of labor organizations, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Employee Right to 

5 Choose Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. STREAMLINING UNIONIZATION PROCESS. 

2 The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 

3 et seq.) is amended—

4 (1) in section 3(b), in the second sentence—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and to’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘to’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘and certify the results 

8 thereof,’’ and inserting ‘‘, and to make the cer9 tifications provided for in section 9,’’; 

10 (2) in section 8—

11 (A) in subsection (b)(7)(C), in the first 

12 proviso—

13 (i) by striking ‘‘the provisions of sec14 tion 9(c)(1) or’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘direct an election in 

16 such unit as the Board finds to be appro17 priate and shall certify the results thereof’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘process the petition in ac19 cordance with section 9(c)(1)’’; and 

20 (B) by striking subsection (d) and insert21 ing the following: 

22 ‘‘(d) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of this 

24 section, to bargain collectively is the performance of 

25 the mutual obligation of the employer and the rep26 resentative of the employees to meet at reasonable 
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1 times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, 

2 hours, and other terms and conditions of employ3 ment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any 

4 question arising thereunder, and the execution of a 

5 written contract incorporating any agreement 

6 reached if requested by either party, but such obliga7 tion does not compel either party to agree to a pro8 posal or require the making of a concession: Pro9 vided, That where there is in effect a collective-bar10 gaining contract covering employees in an industry 

11 affecting commerce, the duty to bargain collectively 

12 shall also mean that no party to such contract shall 

13 terminate or modify such contract, unless the party 

14 desiring such termination or modification—

15 ‘‘(A) serves a written notice upon the other 

16 party to the contract of the proposed termi17 nation or modification 60 days prior to the ex18 piration date thereof, or in the event such con19 tract contains no expiration date, 60 days prior 

20 to the time it is proposed to make such termi21 nation or modification; 

22 ‘‘(B) offers to meet and confer with the 

23 other party for the purpose of negotiating a 

24 new contract or a contract containing the pro25 posed modifications; 
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1 ‘‘(C) notifies the Federal Mediation and 

2 Conciliation Service within 30 days after such 

3 notice of the existence of a dispute, and simul4 taneously therewith notifies any State or Terri5 torial agency established to mediate and concil6 iate disputes within the State or Territory 

7 where the dispute occurred, provided no agree8 ment has been reached by that time; and 

9 ‘‘(D) continues in full force and effect, 

10 without resorting to strike or lock-out, all the 

11 terms and conditions of the existing contract 

12 for a period of 60 days after such notice is 

13 given or until the expiration date of such con14 tract, whichever occurs later: 

15 The duties imposed upon employers, employees, and 

16 labor organizations by subparagraphs (B), (C), and 

17 (D) shall become inapplicable upon an intervening 

18 certification of the Board, under which the labor or19 ganization or individual, which is a party to the con20 tract, has been superseded as or ceased to be the 

21 representative of the employees subject to the provi22 sions of section 9(a), and the duties so imposed shall 

23 not be construed as requiring either party to discuss 

24 or agree to any modification of the terms and condi25 tions contained in a contract for a fixed period, if 
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1 such modification is to become effective before such 

2 terms and conditions can be reopened under the pro3 visions of the contract. Any employee who engages 

4 in a strike within any notice period specified in this 

5 subsection, or who engages in any strike within the 

6 appropriate period specified in subsection (g), shall 

7 lose his status as an employee of the employer en8 gaged in the particular labor dispute, for the pur9 poses of sections 8, 9, and 10 of this Act, as amend10 ed, but such loss of status for such employee shall 

11 terminate if and when he is reemployed by such em12 ployer. 

13 ‘‘(2) BARGAINING FOR EMPLOYEES OF A

14 HEALTH CARE INSTITUTION.—Whenever the collec15 tive bargaining involves employees of a health care 

16 institution, the provisions of this subsection shall be 

17 modified as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) The notice of paragraph (1)(A) shall 

19 be 90 days; the notice of paragraph (1)(C) shall 

20 be 60 days; and the contract period of para21 graph (1)(D) shall be 90 days. 

22 ‘‘(B) Where the bargaining is for an initial 

23 agreement following certification or recognition, 

24 at least 30 days’ notice of the existence of a 
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1 dispute shall be given by the labor organization 

2 to the agencies set forth in paragraph (1)(C). 

3 ‘‘(C) After notice is given to the Federal 

4 Mediation and Conciliation Service under either 

5 clause (A) or (B) of this sentence, the Service 

6 shall promptly communicate with the parties 

7 and use its best efforts, by mediation and con8 ciliation, to bring them to agreement. The par9 ties shall participate fully and promptly in such 

10 meetings as may be undertaken by the Service 

11 for the purpose of aiding in a settlement of the 

12 dispute. 

13 ‘‘(3) BARGAINING FOR AN INITIAL AGREE14 MENT.—Whenever the collective bargaining is for an 

15 initial agreement following certification or recogni16 tion, the provisions of this subsection shall be modi17 fied as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) Not later than 10 days after receiving 

19 a written request for collective bargaining from 

20 an individual or labor organization that has 

21 been newly recognized or certified as a rep22 resentative, as described in section 9(a), or 

23 within such further period as the parties agree 

24 upon, the parties shall meet and commence to 

25 bargain collectively and shall make every rea-
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1 sonable effort to conclude and sign a collective 

2 bargaining agreement. 

3 ‘‘(B) If after 180 days from the com4 mencement of bargaining, or such further pe5 riod as the parties agree upon, the parties have 

6 failed to reach an agreement, either party may 

7 notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

8 Service of the existence of a dispute and re9 quest mediation. Whenever such a request is re10 ceived, it shall be the duty of the Service 

11 promptly to put itself in communication with 

12 the parties and to use its best efforts, by medi13 ation and conciliation, to bring the parties to 

14 agreement. 

15 ‘‘(C) If after 30 days from the request for 

16 mediation, or such further period as the parties 

17 agree upon, the Service is not able to bring the 

18 parties to agreement by conciliation, the Service 

19 shall refer the dispute to an arbitration board 

20 established in accordance with such regulations 

21 as may be prescribed by the Service. The arbi22 tration panel shall render a decision settling the 

23 dispute and such decision shall be binding upon 

24 the parties for a period of 2 years, unless 
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1 amended during such period by written consent 

2 of the parties.’’; and 

3 (3) in section 9—

4 (A) by striking subsection (c) and inserting 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) HEARINGS ON QUESTIONS AFFECTING COM7 MERCE; RULES AND REGULATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a petition shall 

9 have been filed, in accordance with such regulations 

10 as may be prescribed by the Board—

11 ‘‘(A) by an employee or group of employees 

12 or any individual or labor organization acting in 

13 their behalf alleging that a substantial number 

14 of employees wish to be represented for collec15 tive bargaining and that their employer declines 

16 to recognize their representative as the rep17 resentative described in subsection (a); or 

18 ‘‘(B) by an employer, alleging that an indi19 vidual or labor organization has presented to 

20 the employer a claim to be recognized as the 

21 representative described in subsection (a), 

22 the Board shall investigate such petition and if the 

23 Board has reasonable cause to believe that a ques24 tion of representation affecting commerce exists, 

25 shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due 
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1 notice. Such hearing may be conducted by an officer 

2 or employee of the regional office, who shall not 

3 make any recommendations with respect thereto. If 

4 the Board finds upon the record of such hearing 

5 that such a question of representation exists, the 

6 Board shall direct an election by secret ballot and 

7 shall certify the results thereof: Provided, That if the 

8 Board finds that, as of the date of the filing of the 

9 petition or such other date as the Board considers 

10 appropriate, a majority of the employees in a unit 

11 appropriate for collective bargaining have signed au12 thorizations designating the individual or labor orga13 nization specified in the petition as their bargaining 

14 representative, and there is no other individual or 

15 labor organization that has been so designated by 30 

16 percent or more of the employees, the Board shall 

17 not direct an election but shall certify the individual 

18 or labor organization as the representative described 

19 in subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL OR LABOR ORGANIZATION NO

21 LONGER REPRESENTATIVE.—Whenever a petition 

22 shall have been filed, in accordance with such regu23 lations as may be prescribed by the Board by an em24 ployee or group of employees or any individual or 

25 labor organization acting in their behalf alleging 
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1 that a substantial number of employees assert that 

2 the individual or labor organization, which has been 

3 certified or is being currently recognized by their 

4 employer as the bargaining representative, is no 

5 longer a representative as described in subsection 

6 (a), the Board shall investigate such petition and if 

7 the Board has reasonable cause to believe that a 

8 question of representation affecting commerce exists 

9 shall provide for an appropriate hearing upon due 

10 notice. Such hearing may be conducted by an officer 

11 or employee of the regional office, who shall not 

12 make any recommendations with respect thereto. If 

13 the Board finds upon the record of such hearing 

14 that such a question of representation exists, it shall 

15 direct an election by secret ballot and shall certify 

16 the results thereof. 

17 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS AND RULES OF DECISION.—

18 In determining whether or not a question of rep19 resentation affecting commerce exists, the same reg20 ulations and rules of decision shall apply irrespective 

21 of the identity of the persons filing the petition or 

22 the kind of relief sought and in no case shall the 

23 Board deny a labor organization a place on the bal24 lot by reason of an order with respect to such labor 
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1 organization or its predecessor not issued in con2 formity with section 10(c). 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON ELECTION.—No election 

4 shall be directed in any bargaining unit or any sub5 division within which, in the preceding 12-month pe6 riod, a valid election shall have been held, and no 

7 bargaining representative shall be certified on the 

8 basis of a showing of majority support obtained 

9 within the 12-month period following such an elec10 tion. Employees engaged in an economic strike who 

11 are not entitled to reinstatement shall be eligible to 

12 vote under such regulations as the Board shall find 

13 are consistent with the purposes and provisions of 

14 this subchapter in any election conducted within 12 

15 months after the commencement of the strike. In 

16 any election where none of the choices on the ballot 

17 receives a majority, a run-off shall be conducted, the 

18 ballot providing for a selection between the 2 choices 

19 receiving the largest and second largest number of 

20 valid votes cast in the election. 

21 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

22 this section shall be construed to prohibit the 

23 waiving of hearings by stipulation for the purpose of 

24 a consent election in conformity with regulations and 

25 rules of decision of the Board. 
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1 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATION OF APPROPRIATE

2 UNIT.—In determining whether a unit is appropriate 

3 for the purposes specified in subsection (b), the ex4 tent to which the employees have organized shall not 

5 be controlling. 

6 ‘‘(7) GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES.—The 

7 Board shall develop guidelines and procedures for 

8 the designation by employees of a bargaining rep9 resentative as described in subsection (a). Such 

10 guidelines and procedures shall include—

11 ‘‘(A) model collective bargaining authoriza12 tion language that may be used for purposes of 

13 making the designations described in paragraph 

14 (1); and 

15 ‘‘(B) procedures to be used by the Board 

16 to establish the authenticity of signed author17 izations designating bargaining representa18 tives.’’; and 

19 (B) by striking subsection (e). 

20 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

21 Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

22 U.S.C. 158) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(ii), by striking ‘‘section 

24 9(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 9(c)(1)’’; and 
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1 (2) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘9(e)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘9(c)(1)’’.

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