Workplace Democracy Act
The Workplace Democracy Act is a proposed US labor law, that has been sponsored by Bernie Sanders and re-introduced from 1992 to 2018. Among its different forms, it would have removed obstacles to employers making collective agreements, established an impartial National Public Employment Relations Commission to support fair collective bargaining, required that pensions plans are jointly managed by employee and employer representatives, changed the definition of an "employee" to ensure every person who works for other people has labor rights, and repeal all "right to work" laws. The latest version of the Act in 2018 gathered  endorsements from leading lawmakers in the Democratic Party, including Kirsten Gillibrand and Mark Pocan. Background. Given the long term decline in collective bargaining and the rise in inequality, a substantial number of employee representatives, Democratic politicians, labor unions, academics, judges and lawyers had been advocating the revision of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. On 25 September 1992 Bernie Sanders introduced the Bill to the US House of Representatives with 2 cosponsors. After the Bill failed, Sanders tried again in 1994, with one cosponsor. On a third attempt in 1995 by Sanders, the Bill gathered 19 cosponsors. Still the  Bill stalled. It was reintroduced in 1997. On 24 March 1999, it was introduced again and referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations on 30 April 1999. It stalled by 20 December 2000. A similar set of proposals regarding pension fund management was reintroduced by Representative Peter Visclosky in the Employees’ Pension Security Act of 2009, but this also did not yet progress. In 2015, a new version of the Workplace Democracy Act was introduced by both Bernie Sanders in the Senate and Mark Pocan in the House, receiving multiple sponsors but not passing as the Republican Party held  majorities. In 2018, an extended version of the 2015 Bill was proposed by Bernie Sanders. 2018 version. The 2018 version of the Bill included provisions on misrepresenting employee status by employers, and repealing right to work laws. It left out provisions on pension representation (found in the Employees’ Pension Security Act).