[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3094 Engrossed in House (EH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3094

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
       To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to 
     representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor 
                     organizations under that Act.

    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. TIMING OF ELECTIONS.

    Section 9 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``The Board shall 
        decide'' and all that follows through ``Provided, That the'' 
        and inserting: ``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 bargaining 
        unit determinations promulgated through rulemaking effective 
        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 (1) similarity of wages, benefits, and working 
        conditions; (2) similarity of skills and training; (3) 
        centrality of management and common supervision; (4) extent of 
        interchange and frequency of contact between employees; (5) 
        integration of the work flow and interrelationship of the 
        production process; (6) the consistency of the unit with the 
        employer's organizational structure; (7) similarity of job 
        functions and work; and (8) 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 sought 
        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 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. 
        The''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1), in the matter following 
        subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by inserting ``, but in no circumstances less 
                than 14 calendar days after the filing of the 
                petition'' after ``hearing upon due notice'';
                    (B) by inserting before the last sentence 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 election's 
                outcome. Parties may raise independently any relevant 
                and material pre-election issue or assert any relevant 
                and material position at any time prior to the close of 
                the hearing.'';
                    (C) in the last sentence--
                            (i) by inserting ``or consideration of a 
                        request for review of a regional director's 
                        decision and direction of election,'' after 
                        ``record of such hearing''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``to be conducted as soon 
                        as practicable but not less than 35 calendar 
                        days following the filing of an election 
                        petition'' after ``election by secret ballot''; 
                        and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following: ``Not 
                earlier than 7 days after final determination by the 
                Board of the appropriate bargaining unit, the Board 
                shall acquire from the employer a list of all eligible 
                voters to be made available to all parties, which shall 
                include the employee names, and one additional form of 
                personal employee contact information (such as 
                telephone number, email address or mailing address) 
                chosen by the employee in writing.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 30, 2011.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
112th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 3094

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

       To amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to 
     representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor 
                     organizations under that Act.