I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 689

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to provide for fair and

expeditious representation elections.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 1993

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to provide for

fair and expeditious representation elections.

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 ‘‘National Labor Rela5 tions Fair Elections Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCE TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

7 Whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is ex8 pressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a sec9 tion or other provision, the reference shall be considered
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1 to be made to a section or other provision of the National

2 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

3 SEC. 3. REPRESENTATIVES AND ELECTIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(c) (29 U.S.C. 159(c))

5 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

6 paragraphs:

7 ‘‘(6)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

8 section, the Board shall conduct an investigation whenever

9 a petition is filed by an employee or group of employees

10 (or any individual or labor organization acting in their be11 half) alleging that—

12 ‘‘(i) 75 percent of the employees in a unit ap13 propriate for purposes of collective bargaining

14 (under a rule established by the Board pursuant to

15 section 6 or a decision in the applicable industry)

16 have, by signing authorization cards, designated an

17 individual or labor organization as their representa18 tive as defined in subsection (a), and

19 ‘‘(ii) no individual or labor organization is

20 currently certified or recognized as the exclusive rep21 resentative of any of the employees in such unit.

22 ‘‘(B) If the Board finds that the allegations specified

23 in the petition filed pursuant to subparagraph (A) are ac24 curate, the Board shall, within 15 days after the filing

25 of the petition, issue an order certifying such individual
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1 or organization as the representative as defined in sub2 section (a).

3 ‘‘(7)(A) Notwithstanding any other provisions of sec4 tion 9, whenever a petition shall have been filed, in accord5 ance with such regulations as may be prescribed by the

6 Board, by an employee or group of employees or any indi7 vidual or labor organization acting in their behalf alleging

8 that their employer declines to recognize their representa9 tive as the representative defined in subsection (a) in a

10 unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining

11 under a rule established by the Board pursuant to section

12 6 or a decision in the applicable industry, that a majority

13 of the employees in that unit have designated that individ14 ual or labor organization as their representative defined

15 in subsection (a), and that no individual or labor organiza16 tion is currently certified or recognized as the exclusive

17 representative of any of the employees in the bargaining

18 unit defined in the petition, the Board shall investigate

19 such petition. If the Board finds that the unit there speci20 fied is a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar21 gaining under a rule established by the Board pursuant

22 to section 6 or a decision in the applicable industry, and

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

25 the other conditions specified in this subsection have been
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1 met, the Board shall within seven days after the filing of

2 the petition direct an election by secret ballot not more

3 than 15 days after a petition is filed under this subpara4 graph and shall so notify the representative named in the

5 petition and the employer.

6 ‘‘(B) In any proceeding under this subsection in

7 which the Board directs an election by secret ballot, and

8 which is not governed by subparagraph (A) of this para9 graph, the Board shall direct the election on a date not

10 more than 45 days after the filing of the petition and shall

11 inform the representatives named in the petition, the em12 ployer, and all other interested parties of the election date

13 not less than 15 days prior to the election except that,

14 where the Board determines that the proceeding presents

15 issues of exceptional novelty or complexity, the Board may

16 direct the election on a date not more than 75 days after

17 the filing of said petition.

18 ‘‘(C) After an election conducted pursuant to sub19 paragraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph is completed, the

20 Board shall promptly serve the parties with a tally of the

21 ballots.

22 ‘‘(D)(i) Any party to the election conducted pursuant

23 to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph may,

24 within five days after such election, object to the election

25 on the ground that conduct contrary to a rule relating to
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1 election declared by the Board pursuant to its authority

2 under section 6 or conduct contrary to a rule of decision

3 declared by the Board in a proceeding under section 10

4 did affect the result of the election.

5 ‘‘(ii) With regard to challenged ballots, the Board

6 shall, where such ballots are sufficient in number to affect

7 the outcome of the election, investigate the challenges and

8 serve a report upon the parties on challenges.

9 ‘‘(iii) The Board shall move expeditiously to resolve

10 any issues raised by the objections or regarding eligibility

11 and to certify the results of the election: Provided, That

12 an objection that an election was conducted under sub13 paragraph (A) instead of subparagraph (B) shall not be

14 a basis for setting the election aside.’’.

15 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF BOARD.

16 Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 156) is amended to read as fol17 lows:

18 ‘‘SEC. 6. (a) The Board is authorized to make,

19 amend, and rescind (in the manner prescribed by sub20 chapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code)

21 such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry

22 out the provisions of this Act.

23 ‘‘(b)(1) The Board shall, within 12 months after the

24 date of enactment of the National Labor Relations Fair
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1 Elections Act, issue regulations to implement the provi2 sions of section 9(c)(7) including rules—

3 ‘‘(A) which shall, subject to reasonable condi4 tions, including due regard for the needs of the em5 ployer to maintain the continuity of production, as6 sure that if an employer or employer representative

7 addresses the employees on its premises or during

8 working time on issues relating to representation by

9 a labor organization during a period of time that

10 employees are seeking representation by a labor or11 ganization, the employees shall be assured an equal

12 opportunity to obtain in an equivalent manner infor13 mation concerning such issues from such labor orga14 nization;

15 ‘‘(B) for classes of cases in which either the dis16 tance from the Board’s regional office to the election

17 site or the number of employees involved in the elec18 tion makes it infeasible to comply with the time lim19 its stated in section 9(c)(7)(A), to extend to a maxi20 mum of 14 days the period for directing an election

21 stated in that subsection, and to a maximum of 21

22 days the period for the holding of such an election

23 stated in that subsection;

24 ‘‘(C) to facilitate agreements concerning the eli25 gibility of voters; and
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1 ‘‘(D) to govern the holding of elections in cases

2 in which an appeal has not been decided prior to the

3 date of the election.

4 ‘‘(2) The Board shall, to the fullest extent prac5 ticable, exercise its authority under subsection (a) of this

6 section to promulgate rules declaring certain units to be

7 appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.

8 ‘‘(3) A rule or regulation issued by the Board with

9 respect to the subject matter set forth in paragraph (1)

10 or (2) of this subsection shall be judicially reviewable only

11 in a proceeding under section 10 of this Act and only on

12 the grounds that the Board prejudicially violated the re13 quirements of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United

14 States Code, or that a rule or regulation of the Board is

15 arbitrary or capricious, contrary to a specific prohibition

16 of this Act, or of the Constitution. The failure of the

17 Board to comply with the time requirements set forth in

18 paragraph (1) of this subsection, or to institute a rule19 making proceeding with respect to the subject matter set

20 forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection, within a reason21 able period of time after a request for such a rulemaking

22 procedure has been filed with the Board pursuant to sec23 tion 553(e) of title 5, United States Code, or to complete

24 such a procedure within a reasonable period after its insti25 tution, may be reviewed at the behest of any aggrieved
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1 party only in the United States Court of Appeals for the

2 District of Columbia Circuit. The United States Court of

3 Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall have

4 jurisdiction to grant appropriate relief.’’.

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