2023 New York Laws › LAB - Labor › Article 20 - New York State Labor Relations Act › 705 - Representatives and Elections.

§ 705. Representatives and elections. 1. Representatives designated by
  the  board  after  a  showing  of  majority interest or selected for the
  purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in  a
  unit  appropriate  for such purposes or by the majority of the employees
  voting in an election conducted pursuant to this section  shall  be  the
  exclusive  representatives  of all the employees in the appropriate unit
  for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to  rates  of  pay,
  wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided,
  that  employees,  directly  or  through  representatives, shall have the
  right at any time to present grievances to their employer.
The board shall designate a representative for purposes of  collective
  bargaining  when  such representative demonstrates a showing of majority
  interest by employees in the unit. In  cases  where  the  parties  to  a
  dispute  are  without agreement on the means to ascertain the choice, if
  any, of employee organization as their representative, the  board  shall
  ascertain  such employees' choice of employee organization, on the basis
  of dues deduction authorization and other evidence, or if  necessary  by
  conducting  an  election. In the event that either party provides to the
  board,  prior  to  the  designation  of  a  representative,  clear   and
  convincing  evidence  that  the dues deduction authorizations, and other
  evidence upon which the board would  otherwise  rely  to  ascertain  the
  employees'  choice  of  representative,  are fraudulent or were obtained
  through  coercion,  the  board  shall  promptly  thereafter  conduct  an
  election.  The  board  shall  also  investigate  and  consider a party's
  allegations that the dues deduction authorizations and  other  evidences
  submitted  in  support  of  a  designation  of representative without an
  election were subsequently changed, altered, withdrawn or withheld as  a
  result  of  employer  fraud, coercion or any other unfair employer labor
  practice as defined in section seven hundred four of  this  article.  If
  the  board  determines  that  a representative would have had a majority
  interest  but  for  the  employer's  fraud,  coercion  or  unfair  labor
  practice,  it  shall designate the representative without the conduct of
  an election.
1-a. If the choice available to the employees in a negotiating unit is
  limited to selecting or rejecting a single employee  organization,  that
  choice  shall be ascertained by the board on the basis of dues deduction
  authorizations instead of by an election. In  such  case,  the  employee
  organization  involved  will  be  certified  without  an  election  if a
  majority of the employees within the unit have executed a  showing  dues
  deductions authorizations.
1-b.  The board shall determine whether any supervisory employee shall
  be excluded from any negotiating unit that includes  rank-and-file  farm
  laborers;  provided,  however, that nothing in this subdivision shall be
  construed to limit or prohibit any supervisory employee from  organizing
  a separate negotiating unit.
2.  The board shall decide in each case whether, in order to insure to
  employees the full benefit  of  their  right  to  self-organization,  to
  collective  bargaining  and otherwise to effectuate the policies of this
  article, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective  bargaining
  shall  be  the  employer unit, multiple employer unit, craft unit, plant
  unit, or any other unit; provided, however, that in any case  where  the
  majority  of  employees  of  a  particular  craft,  or  in the case of a
  non-profitmaking hospital or residential care center where the  majority
  of  employees  of  a particular profession or craft, shall so decide the
  board shall designate such profession or craft as a unit appropriate for
  the purpose of collective bargaining.
3. Whenever it is alleged by an employee or his representative, or  by
  an  employer  or  his  representative,  that  there  is  a  question  or

  controversy concerning the representation of employees, the board  shall
  investigate  such  question or controversy and certify in writing to all
  persons concerned the name or names of the representatives who have been
  designated  or  selected.  In  any  such  investigation  the board shall
  provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, either in conjuction
  with a proceeding under section seven hundred six or otherwise, and  may
  conduct  an  election  by  secret  ballot of employees, or use any other
  suitable method to ascertain  such  representatives  (either  before  or
  after  the  aforesaid  hearing), provided, however, that the board shall
  not  have  authority  to  investigate  or  determine  any  question   or
  controversy   between  individuals  or  groups  within  the  same  labor
  organization nor between labor organizations affiliated  with  the  same
  parent  labor  organization concerning the internal affairs of any labor
  organization but nothing contained in this proviso shall  be  deemed  to
  preclude  the board from investigating and determining which, if any, of
  affiliated  groups  or  labor  organizations  have  been  designated  or
  selected  by  employees  as  their  representatives  for the purposes of
  collective bargaining within the meaning of this article.
4. The board shall have power to determine who may participate in  the
  election  and  to  establish  the  rules  governing  any  such election:
  Provided, that no election need be directed by the board solely  because
  of  the request of an employer or of employees prompted thereto by their
  employer, nor shall any individuals employed only for the duration of  a
  strike  or  lockout  be  eligible to vote in such election; and provided
  further, that no such election shall be conducted under  the  employer's
  supervision,  or,  except  as  may  be  required  by  the  board, on the
  employer's property, during working hours, or with his participation  or
  assistance.
5.  If at an election conducted pursuant to this section three or more
  nominees for exclusive collective bargaining representatives  appear  on
  the  ballot  and no one of them receives a majority of the votes cast at
  the election, the two nominees who received the highest number of  votes
  shall  appear  on  the  ballot  of  a  second  election  to be conducted
  hereunder, and the one receiving a majority of the  votes  cast  at  the
  second  election  shall  be  the  exclusive  representative  of  all the
  employees in such unit for  the  purpose  of  collective  bargaining  in
  respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions
  of employment.
6.  A  labor organization nominated as the representative of employees
  shall be listed by name on the ballots authorized by  subdivision  three
  of this section. In any investigation conducted by the board pursuant to
  this  section  the board may make a finding as to whether any committee,
  employee representation plan, or association of employees involved is  a
  company  union, and if any such committee, employee representation plan,
  or association of employees be found to be a company union, it shall not
  be listed on the ballots, certified or otherwise recognized as  eligible
  to be the representative of employees under this article.