[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1712 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1712

   To provide protections for workers with respect to their right to 
      select or refrain from selecting representation by a labor 
                             organization.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 14, 2013

Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. 
Boozman, Mr. Burr, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Cornyn, 
Mr. Enzi, Mr. Graham, Mr. Heller, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson 
of Wisconsin, Mr. Lee, Mr. McCain, Mr. Paul, Mr. Risch, Mr. Rubio, Mr. 
Scott, Mr. Thune, and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following bill; which 
  was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide protections for workers with respect to their right to 
      select or refrain from selecting representation by a labor 
                             organization.

    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 ``Employee Rights Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

    (a) Unfair Labor Practices.--Section 8(b)(1) of the National Labor 
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ``interfere 
with'' before ``restrain''.
    (b) Representatives and Elections.--Section 9 of the National Labor 
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``designated or selected for the 
                purposes of collective bargaining'' and inserting ``for 
                the purposes of collective bargaining selected by 
                secret ballot in an election conducted by the Board,''; 
                and
                    (B) by inserting before the period the following: 
                ``: Provided further, That, for purposes of determining 
                the majority of the employees in a secret ballot 
                election in a unit, the term `majority' shall mean the 
                majority of all the employees in the unit, and not the 
                majority of employees voting in the election''; and
            (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the following:
    ``(3) Whenever any certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining 
unit existing on or after the date of enactment of the Employee Rights 
Act experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of unit 
represented employees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit on 
such date and (A) the unit represented employees are covered by a 
negotiated and agreed-upon collective agreement in effect between a 
labor organization representative and an employer, the Board shall 
conduct a secret paper ballot election among the represented employees 
in the bargaining unit between the 120th day and 110th day prior to the 
collective agreement's expiration or prior to the conclusion of three 
years, whichever occurs earlier, or (B) there is no negotiated 
collective agreement then in effect between a labor organization and an 
employer, the Board shall conduct a secret paper ballot election among 
the represented employees in the bargaining unit within 30 days. 
Thereafter, a secret ballot election shall again be conducted under the 
same conditions and procedures whenever the recognized bargaining unit 
experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of unit 
represented employees exceeding 50 percent of the bargaining unit then 
in existence at the time of the preceding secret paper ballot election. 
The election shall be conducted without regard to the pendency of any 
unfair labor practice charge against the employer or the labor 
organization representative and the Board shall rule on any objections 
to the election pursuant to its established timeframes for resolving 
such matters. If a majority of the votes cast in a valid election 
reject the continuing representation by the labor organization, the 
Board shall withdraw the labor organization's certification, the labor 
organization shall cease representation of employees in the bargaining 
unit, and any obligations to or on behalf of the labor organization in 
a collectively bargained contract then in effect shall terminate.''.
    (c) Fair Representation in Elections.--Section 9 of the National 
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by inserting ``prior to an 
        election'' after ``in each case''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the flush matter following paragraph 
                (1)(B)--
                            (i) by inserting ``of 14 days in advance'' 
                        after ``appropriate hearing upon due notice'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``, and a review of post-
                        hearing appeals,'' after ``the record of such 
                        hearing''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The employer shall provide the Board a list 
                        consisting only of employee names and home 
                        addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days 
                        following the Board's determination of the 
                        appropriate unit or following any agreement 
                        between the employer and the labor organization 
                        regarding the eligible voters. Any employee may 
                        elect to be excluded from such list by 
                        notifying the employer in writing.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(6)(A) No election shall take place after the filing of any 
petition unless and until--
            ``(i) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing 
        officer in accordance with due process on any and all material, 
        factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, 
        appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility 
        of individuals; and
            ``(ii) the issues are resolved by a Regional Director, 
        subject to appeal and review, or by the Board.
    ``(B) No election results shall be final and no labor organization 
shall be certified as the bargaining representative of the employees in 
an appropriate unit unless and until the Board has ruled on--
            ``(i) each pre-election issue not resolved before the 
        election; and
            ``(ii) the Board conducts a hearing in accordance with due 
        process and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or 
        results of the election.''.
    (d) Penalties.--Section 10 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 
U.S.C. 160) is amended by inserting after the second sentence following 
the second proviso, the following: ``Any labor organization found to 
have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise 
of their rights under section 7 to form or join a labor organization or 
to refrain therefrom, including the filing of a decertification 
petition, shall be liable for wages lost and union dues or fees 
collected unlawfully, if any, and an additional amount as liquidated 
damages. Any labor organization found to have interfered with, 
restrained, or coerced an employee in connection with the filing of a 
decertification petition shall be prohibited from filing objections to 
an election held pursuant to such petition.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE LABOR-MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT 
              OF 1959.

    (a) Definition.--Section 3(k) of the Labor-Management Reporting and 
Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 402(k)) is amended by striking 
``ballot, voting machine, or otherwise, but'' and inserting ``paper 
ballot, voting machine, or electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a 
voting booth and''.
    (b) Rights of Members.--Section 101(a)(1) of the Labor-Management 
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 411(a)(1)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following ``Every employee in a bargaining 
unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership 
status in the labor organization, shall have the same right as members 
to vote by secret ballot regarding whether to ratify a collective 
bargaining agreement with, or to engage in, a strike or refusal to work 
of any kind against their employer.''.
    (c) Right Not To Subsidize Union Nonrepresentational Activities.--
Title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 
(29 U.S.C. 411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 106. RIGHT NOT TO SUBSIDIZE UNION NONREPRESENTATIONAL 
              ACTIVITIES.

    ``No employee's union dues, fees, or assessments or other 
contributions shall be used or contributed to any person, organization, 
or entity for any purpose not directly related to the labor 
organization's collective bargaining or contract administration 
functions on behalf of the represented unit employee unless the 
employee member, or nonmember required to make such payments as a 
condition of employment, authorizes such expenditure in writing, after 
a notice period of not less than 35 days. An initial authorization 
provided by an employee under the preceding sentence shall expire not 
later than 1 year after the date on which such authorization is signed 
by the employee. There shall be no automatic renewal of an 
authorization under this section.''.
    (d) Limitations.--Section 101(a) of the Labor-Management Reporting 
and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 411(a)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(6) Limitation.--No strike shall commence without the consent of 
a majority of all represented unit employees affected, determined by a 
secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen 
by agreement between the employer and the labor organization involved. 
In any case in which the employer involved has made an offer for a 
collective bargaining agreement, the represented unit employees 
involved shall be provided the opportunity for a secret ballot vote on 
such offer prior to any vote relating to the commencement of a strike. 
The cost of any such election shall be borne by the labor 
organization.''.
    (e) Reporting by Labor Organizations.--Section 201(c) of the Labor-
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``and the independently verified annual 
        audit report of the labor organization's financial condition 
        and operations'' after ``required to be contained in such 
        report'';
            (2) by inserting ``and represented unit nonmembers'' after 
        ``members'';
            (3) by inserting ``and represented unit nonmember'' after 
        ``any member'';
            (4) by striking ``and'' after ``any books, records,''; and
            (5) by inserting ``, and independently verified annual 
        audit report of the labor organization's financial condition 
        and operations'' before ``necessary to verify such report.''.
    (f) Acts of Violence.--Section 610 of the Labor-Management 
Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 530) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``It shall'' and inserting ``(a) It 
        shall''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, through the use of force 
or violence, or threat of the use of force or violence, to restrain, 
coerce, or intimidate, or attempt to restrain, coerce, or intimidate 
any person for the purpose of obtaining from any person any right to 
represent employees or any compensation or other term or condition of 
employment. Any person who willfully violates this subsection shall be 
fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, 
or both.
    ``(c) The lawfulness of a labor organization's objectives shall not 
remove or exempt from the definition of extortion conduct by the labor 
organization or its agents that otherwise constitutes extortion as 
defined by section 1951(b)(2) of title 18, United States Code, from the 
definition of extortion.''.
                                 <all>