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Union Calendar No. 186 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

[Report No. 112–276] 

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 

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. PLATTS, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. PETRI, Mr. 

STIVERS, Mr. NUNNELEE, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. HECK, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mr. 

PALAZZO, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. CANSECO, 

Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Mrs. MYRICK, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. 

DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. BARTLETT, 

Mr. CALVERT, and Mr. BACHUS

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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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. 

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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— 

9 (1) in subsection (b) by striking the first sen10 tence and inserting the following: ‘‘In each case, 

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

12 order to assure to employees the fullest freedom in 

13 exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the 

14 unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bar15 gaining. Unless otherwise stated in this Act, the unit 

16 appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining 

17 shall consist of employees that share a sufficient 

18 community of interest. In determining whether em19 ployees share a sufficient community of interest, the 

20 Board shall consider (1) similarity of wages, bene21 fits, and working conditions; (2) similarity of skills 

22 and training; (3) centrality of management and com23 mon supervision; (4) extent of interchange and fre24 quency of contact between employees; (5) integration 

25 of the work flow and interrelationship of the producmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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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.’’; 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 pre6 election issues and thereafter making a full 

7 record thereon. Pre-election issues shall include, 

8 in addition to unit appropriateness, the Board’s 

9 jurisdiction and any other issue the resolution 

10 of which may make an election unnecessary or 

11 which may reasonably be expected to impact the 

12 election’s outcome. Parties may raise independ13 ently any issue or assert any position at any 

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

15 (C) in the last sentence— 

16 (i) by inserting ‘‘and a review of post17 hearing appeals’’ after ‘‘record of such a 

18 hearing’’; and 

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

20 soon as practicable but not less than 35 

21 calendar days following the filing of an 

22 election petition’’ after ‘‘election by secret 

23 ballot’’; and 

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

25 ‘‘Not earlier than 7 days after final determinamstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 tion by the Board of the appropriate bargaining 

2 unit, the Board shall acquire from the employer 

3 a list of all eligible voters to be made available 

4 to all parties, which shall include the employee 

5 names, and one additional form of personal em6 ployee contact information (such as telephone 

7 number, email address or mailing address) cho8 sen by the employee in writing.’’. 

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

11 and Fairness Act’’. 

12 SEC. 2. TIMING OF ELECTIONS. 

13 Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

14 U.S.C. 159) is amended— 

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

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

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

18 election, the Board shall determine, in order to assure 

19 to employees the fullest freedom in exercising the 

20 rights guaranteed by this Act, the unit appropriate 

21 for the purposes of collective bargaining. Unless other22 wise stated in this Act, and excluding bargaining 

23 unit determinations promulgated through rulemaking 

24 effective before August 26, 2011, the unit appropriate 

25 for purposes of collective bargaining shall consist of 

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1 employees that share a sufficient community of inter2 est. In determining whether employees share a suffi3 cient community of interest, the Board shall consider 

4 (1) similarity of wages, benefits, and working condi5 tions; (2) similarity of skills and training; (3) cen6 trality of management and common supervision; (4) 

7 extent of interchange and frequency of contact between 

8 employees; (5) integration of the work flow and inter9 relationship of the production process; (6) the consist10 ency of the unit with the employer’s organizational 

11 structure; (7) similarity of job functions and work; 

12 and (8) the bargaining history in the particular unit 

13 and the industry. To avoid the proliferation or frag14 mentation of bargaining units, employees shall not be 

15 excluded from the unit unless the interests of the 

16 group sought are sufficiently distinct from those of 

17 other employees to warrant the establishment of a sep18 arate unit. Whether additional employees should be 

19 included in a proposed unit shall be based on whether 

20 such additional employees and proposed unit mem21 bers share a sufficient community of interest, with the 

22 sole exception of proposed accretions to an existing 

23 unit, in which the inclusion of additional employees 

24 shall be based on whether such additional employees 

25 and existing unit members share an overwhelming 

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1 community of interest and the additional employees 

2 have little or no separate identity. The’’; and 

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

4 subparagraph (B)— 

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

6 less than 14 calendar days after the filing of the 

7 petition’’ after ‘‘hearing upon due notice’’; 

8 (B) by inserting before the last sentence the 

9 following: ‘‘An appropriate hearing shall be one 

10 that is non-adversarial with the hearing officer 

11 charged, in collaboration with the parties, with 

12 the responsibility of identifying any relevant and 

13 material pre-election issues and thereafter mak14 ing a full record thereon. Relevant and material 

15 pre-election issues shall include, in addition to 

16 unit appropriateness, the Board’s jurisdiction 

17 and any other issue the resolution of which may 

18 make an election unnecessary or which may rea19 sonably be expected to impact the election’s out20 come. Parties may raise independently any rel21 evant and material pre-election issue or assert 

22 any relevant and material position at any time 

23 prior to the close of the hearing.’’; 

24 (C) in the last sentence— 

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

2 request for review of a regional director’s 

3 decision and direction of election,’’ after 

4 ‘‘record of such hearing’’; and 

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

6 soon as practicable but not less than 35 cal7 endar days following the filing of an elec8 tion petition’’ after ‘‘election by secret bal9 lot’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘Not earlier than 7 days after final determina12 tion by the Board of the appropriate bargaining 

13 unit, the Board shall acquire from the employer 

14 a list of all eligible voters to be made available 

15 to all parties, which shall include the employee 

16 names, and one additional form of personal em17 ployee contact information (such as telephone 

18 number, email address or mailing address) cho19 sen by the employee in writing.’’. 

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Union Calendar No. 186 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

[Report No. 112–276] 

A BILL 

To amend the National Labor Relations Act with 

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

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

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