[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3091 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3091

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow individuals against 
      whom injunctive relief is sought an opportunity to be heard.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 1996

  Mr. Fawell introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to allow individuals against 
      whom injunctive relief is sought an opportunity to be heard.

    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 ``Injunctive Relief Amendments Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the pursuit of preliminary injunctive relief under 
        section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act can be an 
        effective and necessary tool in ensuring the efficiency of the 
        process and remedies established in the Act for the resolution 
        of labor disputes;
            (2) preliminary injunctive relief is any extraordinary 
        remedy in the United States system of civil law and courts have 
        typically been guided by traditional principles of equity in 
        awarding such relief;
            (3) the standards currently used by courts in awarding 
        preliminary injunctive relief under section 10(j) of the 
        National Labor Relations Act are not uniform and are often not 
        consistent with traditional principles of equity;
            (4) the awarding of preliminary injunctive relief under 
        section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act is often a 
        determinative factor in the resolution of a labor dispute even 
        though the merits of an unfair labor practice complaint 
        underlying the dispute have not been thoroughly considered; and
            (5) because of the impact that the award of preliminary 
        injunctive relief under section 10(j) of the National Labor 
        Relations Act can have on the resolution of a labor dispute, 
        individuals against whom such relief is sought should have an 
        opportunity to review and respond to any legal memoranda or 
        other documents presented to the National Labor Relations Board 
        supporting the pursuit of such relief and courts awarding such 
        relief should be guided by traditional principles of equity.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to preserve the ability of the National Labor Relations 
        Board to seek preliminary injunctive relief under section 10(j) 
        of the National Labor Relations Act in those instances where 
        such relief is necessary to preserve the effectiveness of the 
        remedial purposes of the Act;
            (2) to allow individuals against whom preliminary 
        injunctive relief is being pursued an opportunity to review and 
        respond to any legal memoranda or other documents presented to 
        the National Labor Relations Board in support of such relief; 
        and
            (3) to require courts awarding preliminary injunctive 
        relief under section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act 
        to be guided by a uniform standard incorporating traditional 
        principles of equity.

SEC. 3. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.

    Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act is amended by--
            (1) inserting after ``unfair labor practice'' the first 
        time it appears ``and after allowing individuals against whom 
        preliminary relief is being sought an opportunity to review and 
        respond to any legal memoranda or other documents supporting 
        such relief''; and
            (2) adding at the end the following sentence: ``Such relief 
        shall not be granted unless there is a reasonable likelihood of 
        success on the merits of the complaint that an unfair labor 
        practice has occurred, there is a possibility of irreparable 
        harm if such relief is not granted, a balancing of hardships 
        favors injunctive relief, and harm to the public interest 
        stemming from injunctive relief is tolerable in light of the 
        benefits achieved by such relief.''.
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