II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1712 

To provide protections for workers with respect to their right to select or 

refrain from selecting representation by a labor organization. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2013 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. BARRASSO, 

Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BURR, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COCHRAN, 

Mr. CORNYN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. HELLER, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. LEE, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. PAUL, 

Mr. RISCH, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. THUNE, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide protections for workers with respect to their 

right to select or refrain from selecting representation 

by a labor organization. 

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 Rights Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELA2 TIONS ACT. 

3 (a) UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.—Section 8(b)(1) of 

4 the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(1)) 

5 is amended by inserting ‘‘interfere with’’ before ‘‘re6 strain’’. 

7 (b) REPRESENTATIVES AND ELECTIONS.—Section 9 

8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘designated or selected for 

12 the purposes of collective bargaining’’ and in13 serting ‘‘for the purposes of collective bar14 gaining selected by secret ballot in an election 

15 conducted by the Board,’’; and 

16 (B) by inserting before the period the fol17 lowing: ‘‘: Provided further, That, for purposes 

18 of determining the majority of the employees in 

19 a secret ballot election in a unit, the term ‘ma20 jority’ shall mean the majority of all the em21 ployees in the unit, and not the majority of em22 ployees voting in the election’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(3) Whenever any certified or voluntarily recognized 

26 bargaining unit existing on or after the date of enactment 


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1 of the Employee Rights Act experiences turnover, expan2 sion, or alteration by merger of unit represented employ3 ees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit on such 

4 date and (A) the unit represented employees are covered 

5 by a negotiated and agreed-upon collective agreement in 

6 effect between a labor organization representative and an 

7 employer, the Board shall conduct a secret paper ballot 

8 election among the represented employees in the bar9 gaining unit between the 120th day and 110th day prior 

10 to the collective agreement’s expiration or prior to the con11 clusion of three years, whichever occurs earlier, or (B) 

12 there is no negotiated collective agreement then in effect 

13 between a labor organization and an employer, the Board 

14 shall conduct a secret paper ballot election among the rep15 resented employees in the bargaining unit within 30 days. 

16 Thereafter, a secret ballot election shall again be con17 ducted under the same conditions and procedures when18 ever the recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, 

19 expansion, or alteration by merger of unit represented em20 ployees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit then 

21 in existence at the time of the preceding secret paper bal22 lot election. The election shall be conducted without regard 

23 to the pendency of any unfair labor practice charge 

24 against the employer or the labor organization representa25 tive and the Board shall rule on any objections to the elecVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:09 Nov 16, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1712.IS S1712

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1 tion pursuant to its established timeframes for resolving 

2 such matters. If a majority of the votes cast in a valid 

3 election reject the continuing representation by the labor 

4 organization, the Board shall withdraw the labor organiza5 tion’s certification, the labor organization shall cease rep6 resentation of employees in the bargaining unit, and any 

7 obligations to or on behalf of the labor organization in a 

8 collectively bargained contract then in effect shall termi9 nate.’’. 

10 (c) FAIR REPRESENTATION IN ELECTIONS.—Section 

11 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘prior to an 

14 election’’ after ‘‘in each case’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in the flush matter following para17 graph (1)(B)— 

18 (i) by inserting ‘‘of 14 days in ad19 vance’’ after ‘‘appropriate hearing upon 

20 due notice’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, and a review of 

22 post-hearing appeals,’’ after ‘‘the record of 

23 such hearing’’; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: ‘‘The employer shall provide the 


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1 Board a list consisting only of employee 

2 names and home addresses of all eligible 

3 voters within 7 days following the Board’s 

4 determination of the appropriate unit or 

5 following any agreement between the em6 ployer and the labor organization regard7 ing the eligible voters. Any employee may 

8 elect to be excluded from such list by noti9 fying the employer in writing.’’; and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(6)(A) No election shall take place after the filing 

12 of any petition unless and until— 

13 ‘‘(i) a hearing is conducted before a qualified 

14 hearing officer in accordance with due process on 

15 any and all material, factual issues regarding juris16 diction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit in17 clusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the issues are resolved by a Regional Di19 rector, subject to appeal and review, or by the 

20 Board. 

21 ‘‘(B) No election results shall be final and no labor 

22 organization shall be certified as the bargaining represent23 ative of the employees in an appropriate unit unless and 

24 until the Board has ruled on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) each pre-election issue not resolved before 

2 the election; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the Board conducts a hearing in accord4 ance with due process and resolves each issue per5 taining to the conduct or results of the election.’’. 

6 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 10 of the National Labor 

7 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 160) is amended by inserting 

8 after the second sentence following the second proviso, the 

9 following: ‘‘Any labor organization found to have inter10 fered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise 

11 of their rights under section 7 to form or join a labor orga12 nization or to refrain therefrom, including the filing of a 

13 decertification petition, shall be liable for wages lost and 

14 union dues or fees collected unlawfully, if any, and an ad15 ditional amount as liquidated damages. Any labor organi16 zation found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced 

17 an employee in connection with the filing of a decertifica18 tion petition shall be prohibited from filing objections to 

19 an election held pursuant to such petition.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT RE21 PORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1959. 

22 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 3(k) of the Labor-Man23 agement Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 

24 402(k)) is amended by striking ‘‘ballot, voting machine, 

25 or otherwise, but’’ and inserting ‘‘paper ballot, voting maVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:09 Nov 16, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1712.IS S1712

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1 chine, or electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting 

2 booth and’’. 

3 (b) RIGHTS OF MEMBERS.—Section 101(a)(1) of the 

4 Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 

5 (29 U.S.C. 411(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following ‘‘Every employee in a bargaining unit rep7 resented by a labor organization, regardless of member8 ship status in the labor organization, shall have the same 

9 right as members to vote by secret ballot regarding wheth10 er to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to 

11 engage in, a strike or refusal to work of any kind against 

12 their employer.’’. 

13 (c) RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE UNION NON14 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Title I of the Labor15 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

16 U.S.C. 411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 106. RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE UNION NON19 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

20 ‘‘No employee’s union dues, fees, or assessments or 

21 other contributions shall be used or contributed to any 

22 person, organization, or entity for any purpose not directly 

23 related to the labor organization’s collective bargaining or 

24 contract administration functions on behalf of the rep25 resented unit employee unless the employee member, or 


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1 nonmember required to make such payments as a condi2 tion of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writ3 ing, after a notice period of not less than 35 days. An 

4 initial authorization provided by an employee under the 

5 preceding sentence shall expire not later than 1 year after 

6 the date on which such authorization is signed by the em7 ployee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an author8 ization under this section.’’. 

9 (d) LIMITATIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Labor10 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

11 U.S.C. 411(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION.—No strike shall commence with14 out the consent of a majority of all represented unit em15 ployees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote con16 ducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agree17 ment between the employer and the labor organization in18 volved. In any case in which the employer involved has 

19 made an offer for a collective bargaining agreement, the 

20 represented unit employees involved shall be provided the 

21 opportunity for a secret ballot vote on such offer prior to 

22 any vote relating to the commencement of a strike. The 

23 cost of any such election shall be borne by the labor orga24 nization.’’. 


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1 (e) REPORTING BY LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 

2 201(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclo3 sure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431(c)) is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘and the independently verified 

5 annual audit report of the labor organization’s fi6 nancial condition and operations’’ after ‘‘required to 

7 be contained in such report’’; 

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘and represented unit nonmem9 bers’’ after ‘‘members’’; 

10 (3) by inserting ‘‘and represented unit non11 member’’ after ‘‘any member’’; 

12 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘any books, 

13 records,’’; and 

14 (5) by inserting ‘‘, and independently verified 

15 annual audit report of the labor organization’s fi16 nancial condition and operations’’ before ‘‘necessary 

17 to verify such report.’’. 

18 (f) ACTS OF VIOLENCE.—Section 610 of the Labor19 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

20 U.S.C. 530) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘It shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) It 

22 shall’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, through the 

25 use of force or violence, or threat of the use of force or 


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1 violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate, or attempt to 

2 restrain, coerce, or intimidate any person for the purpose 

3 of obtaining from any person any right to represent em4 ployees or any compensation or other term or condition 

5 of employment. Any person who willfully violates this sub6 section shall be fined not more than $100,000 or impris7 oned for not more than 10 years, or both. 

8 ‘‘(c) The lawfulness of a labor organization’s objec9 tives shall not remove or exempt from the definition of 

10 extortion conduct by the labor organization or its agents 

11 that otherwise constitutes extortion as defined by section 

12 1951(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, from the defi13 nition of extortion.’’. 

Æ 


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