[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1047 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1047

To amend the National Labor Relations Act to protect State requirements 
          for a secret ballot election of labor organizations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2011

Mr. Duncan of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Bishop of 
   Utah, Mrs. Noem, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Wilson of South 
Carolina, Mr. Gowdy, Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Ross of Florida, Mr. 
  Kingston, Mr. Stutzman, Mr. Neugebauer, Mr. Yoder, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. 
Burton of Indiana, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Flores, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Ms. 
 Foxx, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Huelskamp, Mr. Westmoreland, Mr. McHenry, Mr. 
  King of Iowa, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Rokita, and Mr. Herger) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to protect State requirements 
          for a secret ballot election of labor organizations.

    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 ``State Right to Vote Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the right of employees under the National Labor 
        Relations Act to choose whether to be represented by a labor 
        organization by way of secret ballot election conducted by the 
        National Labor Relations Board is among the most important 
        protections afforded under Federal labor law;
            (2) the right of employees to choose by secret ballot is 
        the only method that ensures a choice free of coercion, 
        intimidation, irregularity, or illegality;
            (3) the recognition of a labor organization by using a 
        private agreement, rather than a secret ballot election 
        overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, threatens the 
        freedom of employees to choose whether to be represented by a 
        labor organization, and severely limits the ability of the 
        Board to ensure the protection of workers;
            (4) the States under section 14(b) of the Act have the 
        option to prohibit agreements requiring membership in a labor 
        organization as a condition of employment; and
            (5) in order to further the rights of employees to be free 
        in their choice of representation by a labor organization, the 
        States should have the option to prohibit labor organization 
        representation of employees unless the labor organization is 
        selected via a secret ballot election conducted by the Board.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF STATE RIGHT TO REQUIRE SECRET BALLOT ELECTIONS.

    (a) Representation of Employees Without Secret Ballot Election in 
Violation of State Law.--Section 14 of the National Labor Relations Act 
(29 U.S.C. 164) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d)(1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing or 
recognizing a labor organization as the representative of employees 
unless the labor organization has been selected by a majority of such 
employees in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor 
Relations Board in any State or Territory in which such labor 
organization recognition is prohibited by State or Territorial law 
unless recognition is accomplished through a secret ballot election 
conducted by the Board.
    ``(2) No agency of the Federal Government may bring any challenge 
against a State statute or constitutional provision which protects the 
right of employees to choose labor organization representatives through 
secret ballot elections.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act the National Labor Relations Board shall review 
and revise as necessary any regulations promulgated before such date to 
implement the amendments made by this Act to the National Labor 
Relations Act.
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