I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to representation 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 5, 2011 

Mr. KLINE (for himself, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. 

FOXX, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. 

GOWDY, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. ROSS of Florida, and Mr. KELLY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 and Fairness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TIMING OF ELECTIONS. 

7 Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

8 U.S.C. 159) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b) by striking the first sen2 tence and inserting the following: ‘‘In each case, 

3 prior to an election, the Board shall determine, in 

4 order to assure to employees the fullest freedom in 

5 exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the 

6 unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar7 gaining. Unless otherwise stated in this Act, the unit 

8 appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining 

9 shall consist of employees that share a sufficient 

10 community of interest. In determining whether em11 ployees share a sufficient community of interest, the 

12 Board shall consider (1) similarity of wages, bene13 fits, and working conditions; (2) similarity of skills 

14 and training; (3) centrality of management and com15 mon supervision; (4) extent of interchange and fre16 quency of contact between employees; (5) integration 

17 of the work flow and interrelationship of the produc18 tion process; (6) the consistency of the unit with the 

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

20 job functions and work; and (8) the bargaining his21 tory in the particular unit and the industry. To 

22 avoid the proliferation or fragmentation of bar23 gaining units, employees shall not be excluded from 

24 the unit unless the interests of the group sought are 

25 sufficiently distinct from those of other employees to 


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1 warrant the establishment of a separate unit. 

2 Whether additional employees should be included in 

3 a proposed unit shall be based on whether such addi4 tional employees and proposed unit members share 

5 a sufficient community of interest, with the sole ex6 ception of proposed accretions to an existing unit, in 

7 which the inclusion of additional employees shall be 

8 based on whether such additional employees and ex9 isting unit members share an overwhelming commu10 nity of interest and the additional employees have 

11 little or no separate identity.’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (c)(1) in the matter following 

13 subparagraph (B)— 

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

15 less than 14 calendar days after the filing of 

16 the petition’’ after ‘‘hearing upon due notice’’; 

17 (B) by inserting before the last sentence 

18 the following: ‘‘An appropriate hearing shall be 

19 one that is non-adversarial with the hearing of20 ficer charged, in collaboration with the parties, 

21 with the responsibility of identifying any pre22 election issues and thereafter making a full 

23 record thereon. Pre-election issues shall include, 

24 in addition to unit appropriateness, the Board’s 

25 jurisdiction and any other issue the resolution 


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1 of which may make an election unnecessary or 

2 which may reasonably be expected to impact the 

3 election’s outcome. Parties may raise independ4 ently any issue or assert any position at any 

5 time prior to the close of the hearing.’’; 

6 (C) in the last sentence— 

7 (i) by inserting ‘‘and a review of post8 hearing appeals’’ after ‘‘record of such a 

9 hearing’’; and 

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

11 soon as practicable but not less than 35 

12 calendar days following the filing of an 

13 election petition’’ after ‘‘election by secret 

14 ballot’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘Not earlier than 7 days after final determina17 tion by the Board of the appropriate bargaining 

18 unit, the Board shall acquire from the employer 

19 a list of all eligible voters to be made available 

20 to all parties, which shall include the employee 

21 names, and one additional form of personal em22 ployee contact information (such as telephone 

23 number, email address or mailing address) cho24 sen by the employee in writing.’’. 

Æ 


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