I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4161
To strengthen the rights of workers to associate, organize and strike, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 4, 2000
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To strengthen the rights of workers to associate, organize
and strike, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Right to Organize Act
of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYER AND LABOR ORGANIZATIONS PRESEN-
TATIONS.
Section 8(c) of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 158(c)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection des-
ignation; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(2) If an employer or employer representative ad-
dresses the employees on the employer’s premises or dur-
ing work hours on issues relating to representation by a
labor organization, the employees shall be assured, without
loss of time or pay, an equal opportunity to obtain, in an
equivalent manner, information concerning such issues
from such labor organization.
‘‘(3) Subject to reasonable regulation by the Board,
labor organizations shall have—
‘‘(A) access to areas in which employees work;
‘‘(B) the right to use the employer’s bulletin
boards, mailboxes, and other communication media;
and
‘‘(C) the right to use the employer’s facilities
for the purpose of meetings with respect to the exer-
cise of the rights guaranteed by this Act.’’.
SEC. 3. LABOR RELATIONS REMEDIES.
(a) BOARD REMEDIES.—Section 10(c) of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 160(c)) is amended
by inserting after the fourth sentence the following new
sentence: ‘‘If the Board finds that an employee was dis-
charged as a result of an unfair labor practice, the Board
in such order shall (1) award back pay in an amount equal
to 3 times the employee’s wage rate at the time of the
unfair labor practice and (2) notify such employee of such
employee’s right to sue for punitive damages and damages
with respect to a wrongful discharge under section 303
of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C.
187), as amended by the Fair Labor Organizing Act.’’.
(b) COURT REMEDIES.—Section 303 of the Labor
Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 187) is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections:
‘‘(c) It shall be unlawful, for purposes of this section,
for any employer to discharge an employee for exercising
rights protected under the National Labor Relations Act.
‘‘(d) An employee whose discharge is determined by
the National Labor Relations Board under section 10(c)
of the National Labor Relations Act to be as a result of
an unfair labor practice under section 8 of such Act may
file a civil action in any district court of the United States,
without respect to the amount in controversy, to recover
punitive damages or if actionable, in any State court to
recover damages based on a wrongful discharge.’’.
SEC. 4. INITIAL CONTRACT DISPUTES.
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29
U.S.C. 158) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(h)(1) If, not later than 60 days after the certifi-
cation of a new representative of employees for the pur-
pose of collective bargaining, the employer of the employ-
ees and the representative have not reached a collective
bargaining agreement with respect to the terms and condi-
tions of employment, the employer and the representative
shall jointly select a mediator to mediate those issues on
which the employer and the representative cannot agree.
‘‘(2) If the employer and the representative are un-
able to agree upon a mediator, either party may request
the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to select
a mediator and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service shall upon the request select a person to serve as
mediator.
‘‘(3) If, not later than 30 days after the date of the
selection of a mediator under paragraph (1) or (2), the
employer and the representative have not reached an
agreement, the employer or the representative may trans-
fer the matters remaining in controversy to the Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service for binding arbitra-
tion.’’.
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