Employee Rights Act

To provide protections for workers with respect to their right to select or refrain from selecting representation by a labor organization. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Employee Rights Act 2. Amendments to the National Labor Relations Act (a) Unfair labor practices Section 8(b)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 158(b)(1) restrain or interfere with, restrain, or (b) Representatives and elections Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 159 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) by striking designated or selected for the purposes of collective bargaining for the purposes of collective bargaining selected by secret ballot in an election conducted by the Board, (B) by inserting before the period the following: : Provided further, majority (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following: (3) Whenever any certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining unit existing on or after the date of enactment of the Employee Rights Act . (c) Fair representation in elections Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 159 (1) in subsection (b), by inserting prior to an election in each case (2) in subsection (c)— (A) in the flush matter following paragraph (1)(B)— (i) by inserting of 14 days in advance appropriate hearing upon due notice (ii) by inserting , and a review of post-hearing appeals, the record of such hearing (iii) by adding at the end the following: The employer shall provide the Board a list consisting only of employee names and home addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days following the Board’s determination of the appropriate unit or following any agreement between the employer and the labor organization regarding the eligible voters. Any employee may elect to be excluded from such list by notifying the employer in writing. (B) by adding at the end the following: (6) (A) No election shall take place after the filing of any petition unless and until— (i) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing officer in accordance with due process on any and all material, factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and (ii) the issues are resolved by a Regional Director, subject to appeal and review, or by the Board. (B) No election results shall be final and no labor organization shall be certified as the bargaining representative of the employees in an appropriate unit unless and until the Board has ruled on— (i) each pre-election issue not resolved before the election; and (ii) the Board conducts a hearing in accordance with due process and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or results of the election. . (d) Penalties Section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 160 Any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of their rights under section 7 to form or join a labor organization or to refrain therefrom, including the filing of a decertification petition, shall be liable for wages lost and labor organization dues or fees collected unlawfully, if any, and an additional amount as liquidated damages. Any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced an employee in connection with the filing of a decertification petition shall be prohibited from filing objections to an election held pursuant to such petition. 3. Amendments to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (a) Definition Section 3(k) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 402(k) ballot, voting machine, or otherwise, but paper ballot, voting machine, or electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting booth and (b) Rights of members Section 101(a)(1) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 411(a)(1) Every employee in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership status in the labor organization, shall have the same right as members to vote by secret ballot regarding whether to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to engage in a strike or refusal to work of any kind against, their employer. (c) Right not To subsidize labor organization nonrepresentational activities Title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 411 106. Right not to subsidize labor organization nonrepresentational activities No employee’s labor organization dues, fees, or assessments or other contributions shall be used or contributed to any person, organization, or entity for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization’s collective bargaining or contract administration functions on behalf of the represented unit employee unless the employee member, or nonmember required to make such payments as a condition of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writing, after a notice period of not less than 35 days. An initial authorization provided by an employee under the preceding sentence shall expire not later than 1 year after the date on which such authorization is signed by the employee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an authorization under this section. . (d) Limitations Section 101(a) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 411(a) (6) Limitation No strike shall commence without the consent of a majority of all represented unit employees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agreement between the employer and the labor organization involved. In any case in which the employer involved has made an offer for a collective bargaining agreement, the represented unit employees involved shall be provided the opportunity for a secret ballot vote on such offer prior to any vote relating to the commencement of a strike. The cost of any such election shall be borne by the labor organization. . (e) Reporting by labor organizations Section 201(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 431(c) (1) by inserting and the independently verified annual audit report of the labor organization’s financial condition and operations required to be contained in such report (2) by inserting and represented unit nonmembers members (3) by inserting and represented unit nonmember any member (4) by inserting and represented unit nonmember such member (5) by striking and any books, records, (6) by inserting , and independently verified annual audit report of the labor organization’s financial condition and operations necessary to verify such report. (f) Acts of violence Section 610 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 ( 29 U.S.C. 530 (1) by striking It shall (a) It shall (2) by adding at the end the following: (b) It shall be unlawful for any person, through the use of force or violence, or threat of the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate, or attempt to restrain, coerce, or intimidate any person for the purpose of obtaining from any person any right to represent employees or any compensation or other term or condition of employment. Any person who willfully violates this subsection shall be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. (c) The lawfulness of a labor organization’s objectives shall not remove or exempt from the definition of extortion, as defined in section 1951(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, conduct by the labor organization or its agents that otherwise constitutes extortion as defined in such section. .

Summary: Employee Rights Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to: (1) make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization to interfere (currently, restrain or coerce) with the rights of employees to organize and collectively bargain; (2) require union recertification after a turnover in the workforce exceeding 50% of the bargaining unit; (3) require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to give 14 days advance notice before a hearing investigating an election petition; and (4) require an employer to provide the NLRB with a list consisting only of employee names and addresses of all eligible voters within seven days after an NLRB determination of the appropriate bargaining unit or an agreement on eligible voters. The bill: (1) grants union and nonunion employees the right to vote by secret ballot on whether to ratify a collective bargaining agreement or engage in a strike, (2) prohibits the use of union dues for any purpose not directly related to collective bargaining, (3) prohibits a strike without the consent of a majority of all represented employees determined by secret ballot, and (4) prohibits the use or threat of force or violence to obtain the right to represent employees.