II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1874 

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 

JULY 28, 2015 

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

Mr. ENZI, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. WICKER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. COATS, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. 

CORNYN, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. PERDUE) 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’’. 

5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELA6 TIONS ACT. 

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

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


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1 is amended by inserting ‘‘interfere with’’ before ‘‘re2 strain’’. 

3 (b) REPRESENTATIVES AND ELECTIONS.—Section 9 

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

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

8 the purposes of collective bargaining’’ and in9 serting ‘‘for the purposes of collective bar10 gaining selected by secret ballot in an election 

11 conducted by the Board,’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting before the period the fol13 lowing: ‘‘: Provided further, That, for purposes 

14 of determining the majority of the employees in 

15 a secret ballot election in a unit, the term ‘ma16 jority’ shall mean the majority of all the em17 ployees in the unit, and not the majority of em18 ployees voting in the election’’; and 

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

20 following: 

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

22 bargaining unit existing on or after the date of enactment 

23 of the Employee Rights Act experiences turnover, expan24 sion, or alteration by merger of unit represented employ25 ees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit on such 


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

2 by a negotiated and agreed-upon collective agreement in 

3 effect between a labor organization representative and an 

4 employer, the Board shall conduct a secret paper ballot 

5 election among the represented employees in the bar6 gaining unit between the 120th day and 110th day prior 

7 to the collective agreement’s expiration or prior to the con8 clusion of three years, whichever occurs earlier, or (B) 

9 there is no negotiated collective agreement then in effect 

10 between a labor organization and an employer, the Board 

11 shall conduct a secret paper ballot election among the rep12 resented employees in the bargaining unit within 30 days. 

13 Thereafter, a secret ballot election shall again be con14 ducted under the same conditions and procedures when15 ever the recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, 

16 expansion, or alteration by merger of unit represented em17 ployees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit then 

18 in existence at the time of the preceding secret paper bal19 lot election. The election shall be conducted without regard 

20 to the pendency of any unfair labor practice charge 

21 against the employer or the labor organization representa22 tive and the Board shall rule on any objections to the elec23 tion pursuant to its established timeframes for resolving 

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

25 election reject the continuing representation by the labor 


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1 organization, the Board shall withdraw the labor organiza2 tion’s certification, the labor organization shall cease rep3 resentation of employees in the bargaining unit, and any 

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

5 collectively bargained contract then in effect shall termi6 nate.’’. 

7 (c) FAIR REPRESENTATION IN ELECTIONS.—Section 

8 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) 

9 is amended— 

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

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

12 (2) in subsection (c)— 

13 (A) in the flush matter following para14 graph (1)(B)— 

15 (i) by inserting ‘‘of 14 days in ad16 vance’’ after ‘‘appropriate hearing upon 

17 due notice’’; 

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

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

20 such hearing’’; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: ‘‘The employer shall provide the 

23 Board a list consisting only of employee 

24 names and home addresses of all eligible 

25 voters within 7 days following the Board’s 


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1 determination of the appropriate unit or 

2 following any agreement between the em3 ployer and the labor organization regard4 ing the eligible voters. Any employee may 

5 elect to be excluded from such list by noti6 fying the employer in writing.’’; and 

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

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

9 of any petition unless and until— 

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

11 hearing officer in accordance with due process on 

12 any and all material, factual issues regarding juris13 diction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit in14 clusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the issues are resolved by a Regional Di16 rector, subject to appeal and review, or by the 

17 Board. 

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

19 organization shall be certified as the bargaining represent20 ative of the employees in an appropriate unit unless and 

21 until the Board has ruled on— 

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

23 the election; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Board conducts a hearing in accord2 ance with due process and resolves each issue per3 taining to the conduct or results of the election.’’. 

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

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

6 after the second sentence following the second proviso, the 

7 following: ‘‘Any labor organization found to have inter8 fered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise 

9 of their rights under section 7 to form or join a labor orga10 nization or to refrain therefrom, including the filing of a 

11 decertification petition, shall be liable for wages lost and 

12 union dues or fees collected unlawfully, if any, and an ad13 ditional amount as liquidated damages. Any labor organi14 zation found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced 

15 an employee in connection with the filing of a decertifica16 tion petition shall be prohibited from filing objections to 

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

18 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT RE19 PORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1959. 

20 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 3(k) of the Labor-Man21 agement Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 

22 402(k)) is amended by striking ‘‘ballot, voting machine, 

23 or otherwise, but’’ and inserting ‘‘paper ballot, voting ma24 chine, or electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting 

25 booth and’’. 


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

2 Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 

3 (29 U.S.C. 411(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following ‘‘Every employee in a bargaining unit rep5 resented by a labor organization, regardless of member6 ship status in the labor organization, shall have the same 

7 right as members to vote by secret ballot regarding wheth8 er to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to 

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

10 their employer.’’. 

11 (c) RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE UNION NON12 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Title I of the Labor13 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

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

15 following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 106. RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE UNION NON17 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

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

19 other contributions shall be used or contributed to any 

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

21 related to the labor organization’s collective bargaining or 

22 contract administration functions on behalf of the rep23 resented unit employee unless the employee member, or 

24 nonmember required to make such payments as a condi25 tion of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jul 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1874.IS S1874

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1 ing, after a notice period of not less than 35 days. An 

2 initial authorization provided by an employee under the 

3 preceding sentence shall expire not later than 1 year after 

4 the date on which such authorization is signed by the em5 ployee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an author6 ization under this section.’’. 

7 (d) LIMITATIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Labor8 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

9 U.S.C. 411(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION.—No strike shall commence with12 out the consent of a majority of all represented unit em13 ployees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote con14 ducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agree15 ment between the employer and the labor organization in16 volved. In any case in which the employer involved has 

17 made an offer for a collective bargaining agreement, the 

18 represented unit employees involved shall be provided the 

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

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

21 cost of any such election shall be borne by the labor orga22 nization.’’. 

23 (e) REPORTING BY LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 

24 201(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclo25 sure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431(c)) is amended— 


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

2 annual audit report of the labor organization’s fi3 nancial condition and operations’’ after ‘‘required to 

4 be contained in such report’’; 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘and represented unit nonmem6 bers’’ after ‘‘members’’; 

7 (3) by inserting ‘‘and represented unit non8 member’’ after ‘‘any member’’; 

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

10 records,’’; and 

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

12 annual audit report of the labor organization’s fi13 nancial condition and operations’’ before ‘‘necessary 

14 to verify such report.’’. 

15 (f) ACTS OF VIOLENCE.—Section 610 of the Labor16 Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 

17 U.S.C. 530) is amended— 

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

19 shall’’; and 

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

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

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

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

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

25 of obtaining from any person any right to represent emVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jul 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1874.IS S1874

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1 ployees or any compensation or other term or condition 

2 of employment. Any person who willfully violates this sub3 section shall be fined not more than $100,000 or impris4 oned for not more than 10 years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(c) The lawfulness of a labor organization’s objec6 tives shall not remove or exempt from the definition of 

7 extortion conduct by the labor organization or its agents 

8 that otherwise constitutes extortion as defined by section 

9 1951(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, from the defi10 nition of extortion.’’. 

Æ 


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