112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

AN ACT 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect 

to representation hearings and the timing of elections 

of labor organizations under that Act. 

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Democracy 

3 and Fairness Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TIMING OF ELECTIONS. 

5 Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

6 U.S.C. 159) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘The Board 

8 shall decide’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Provided, 

9 That the’’ and inserting: ‘‘In each case, prior to an 

10 election, the Board shall determine, in order to as11 sure to employees the fullest freedom in exercising 

12 the rights guaranteed by this Act, the unit appro13 priate for the purposes of collective bargaining. Un14 less otherwise stated in this Act, and excluding bar15 gaining unit determinations promulgated through 

16 rulemaking effective before August 26, 2011, the 

17 unit appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining 

18 shall consist of employees that share a sufficient 

19 community of interest. In determining whether em20 ployees share a sufficient community of interest, the 

21 Board shall consider (1) similarity of wages, bene22 fits, and working conditions; (2) similarity of skills 

23 and training; (3) centrality of management and com24 mon supervision; (4) extent of interchange and fre25 quency of contact between employees; (5) integration 

26 of the work flow and interrelationship of the produc-
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1 tion process; (6) the consistency of the unit with the 

2 employer’s organizational structure; (7) similarity of 

3 job functions and work; and (8) the bargaining his4 tory in the particular unit and the industry. To 

5 avoid the proliferation or fragmentation of bar6 gaining units, employees shall not be excluded from 

7 the unit unless the interests of the group sought are 

8 sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to 

9 warrant the establishment of a separate unit. 

10 Whether additional employees should be included in 

11 a proposed unit shall be based on whether such addi12 tional employees and proposed unit members share 

13 a sufficient community of interest, with the sole ex14 ception of proposed accretions to an existing unit, in 

15 which the inclusion of additional employees shall be 

16 based on whether such additional employees and ex17 isting unit members share an overwhelming commu18 nity of interest and the additional employees have 

19 little or no separate identity. The’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (c)(1), in the matter following 

21 subparagraph (B)— 

22 (A) by inserting ‘‘, but in no circumstances 

23 less than 14 calendar days after the filing of 

24 the petition’’ after ‘‘hearing upon due notice’’; 
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1 (B) by inserting before the last sentence 

2 the following: ‘‘An appropriate hearing shall be 

3 one that is non-adversarial with the hearing of4 ficer charged, in collaboration with the parties, 

5 with the responsibility of identifying any rel6 evant and material pre-election issues and 

7 thereafter making a full record thereon. Rel8 evant and material pre-election issues shall in9 clude, in addition to unit appropriateness, the 

10 Board’s jurisdiction and any other issue the 

11 resolution of which may make an election un12 necessary or which may reasonably be expected 

13 to impact the election’s outcome. Parties may 

14 raise independently any relevant and material 

15 pre-election issue or assert any relevant and 

16 material position at any time prior to the close 

17 of the hearing.’’; 

18 (C) in the last sentence— 

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘or consideration of a 

20 request for review of a regional director’s 

21 decision and direction of election,’’ after 

22 ‘‘record of such hearing’’; and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘to be conducted as 

24 soon as practicable but not less than 35 

25 calendar days following the filing of an 
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1 election petition’’ after ‘‘election by secret 

2 ballot’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘Not earlier than 7 days after final determina5 tion by the Board of the appropriate bargaining 

6 unit, the Board shall acquire from the employer 

7 a list of all eligible voters to be made available 

8 to all parties, which shall include the employee 

9 names, and one additional form of personal em10 ployee contact information (such as telephone 

11 number, email address or mailing address) cho12 sen by the employee in writing.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 30, 

2011. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

AN ACT 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act with 

Act. of elections of labor organizations under that respect to representation hearings and the timing