Title: Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to require a waiting period of at least 14 days after a petition is filed by an employer or employee relating to collective bargaining rights before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may begin an investigative hearing into questions of representation affecting commerce. A hearing must be non-adversarial and the hearing officer must identify any relevant and material pre-election issues and create a full record.
The bill requires the NLRB, in cases where it finds that a question of representation affecting commerce exists, to: (1) direct an election by secret ballot as soon as practicable but not before 35 calendar days after the filing of the election petition, and (2) certify election results after it has ruled on each pre-election issue not resolved before the election and any additional issue pertaining to the conduct or results of that election.
The bill deems a collective bargaining unit appropriate for collective bargaining if it consists of employees who share a sufficient community of interest and sets forth factors for the NLRB to consider in determining whether employees share a sufficient community of interest.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2776 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2776

To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to the timing of 
   elections and pre-election hearings and the identification of pre-
                            election issues.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 6, 2017

 Mr. Walberg (for himself, Ms. Foxx, Mr. Roe of Tennessee, Mr. Byrne, 
  Mr. Grothman, Mr. Allen, and Mr. Mitchell) 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 the timing of 
   elections and pre-election hearings and the identification of pre-
                            election issues.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Workforce Democracy and Fairness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PRE-ELECTION HEARINGS.

    Section 9(c)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 
159(c)(1)) is amended in the matter following subparagraph (B)--
            (1) by inserting ``, but in no circumstances less than 14 
        calendar days after the filing of the petition'' after ``upon 
        due notice'';
            (2) by inserting after ``with respect thereto.'' the 
        following: ``An appropriate hearing shall be one that is non-
        adversarial with the hearing officer charged, in collaboration 
        with the parties, with the responsibility of identifying any 
        relevant and material pre-election issues and thereafter making 
        a full record thereon. Relevant and material pre-election 
        issues shall include, in addition to unit appropriateness, the 
        Board's jurisdiction and any other issue the resolution of 
        which may make an election unnecessary or which may reasonably 
        be expected to impact the outcome of the election. Parties may 
        independently raise any relevant and material pre-election 
        issue or assert any relevant and material position at any time 
        prior to the close of the hearing.''; and
            (3) by striking ``and shall certify the results thereof'' 
        and inserting ``to be conducted as soon as practicable but no 
        earlier than 35 calendar days after the filing of an election 
        petition. The Board shall certify the results of the election 
        after it has ruled on each pre-election issue not resolved 
        before the election and any additional issue pertaining to the 
        conduct or results of the election''.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF APPROPRIATE UNITS FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.

    Section 9(b) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as 
        subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``The Board shall decide'' and all that 
        follows through ``or subdivision thereof:'' and inserting the 
        following: ``(1) In each case, prior to an election, the Board 
        shall determine, in order to assure to employees the fullest 
        freedom in exercising the rights guaranteed by this Act, the 
        unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. 
        Unless otherwise stated in this Act, and excluding any 
        bargaining unit determination promulgated through rulemaking 
        before August 26, 2011, the unit appropriate for purposes of 
        collective bargaining shall consist of employees that share a 
        sufficient community of interest. In determining whether 
        employees share a sufficient community of interest, the Board 
        shall consider--
            ``(A) similarity of wages, benefits, and working 
        conditions;
            ``(B) similarity of skills and training;
            ``(C) centrality of management and common supervision;
            ``(D) extent of interchange and frequency of contact 
        between employees;
            ``(E) integration of the work flow and interrelationship of 
        the production process;
            ``(F) the consistency of the unit with the employer's 
        organizational structure;
            ``(G) similarity of job functions and work; and
            ``(H) the bargaining history in the particular unit and the 
        industry.
To avoid the proliferation or fragmentation of bargaining units, 
employees shall not be excluded from the unit unless the interests of 
the group seeking a separate unit are sufficiently distinct from those 
of other employees to warrant the establishment of a separate unit. 
Whether additional employees should be included in a proposed unit 
shall be determined based on whether such additional employees and 
proposed unit members share a sufficient community of interest, with 
the sole exception of proposed accretions to an existing unit, in which 
the inclusion of additional employees shall be based on whether such 
additional employees and existing unit members share an overwhelming 
community of interest and the additional employees have little or no 
separate identity.''; and
            (3) by striking ``Provided, That the Board'' and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(2) The Board''.
                                 <all>