[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 183 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WORKFORCE DEMOCRACY AND FAIRNESS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 30, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3094) to 
     amend the National Labor Relations Act with respect to 
     representation hearings and the timing of elections of labor 
     organizations under that Act.

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Election 
Prevention Act, H.R. 3094. As a member of the House Committee on 
Education and Workforce, I voted against this fundamentally flawed bill 
when we considered it and I will oppose it again today.
  The majority deceptively named this bill the Workplace Democracy and 
Fairness Act, which should tell us all that this bill has nothing to do 
with workplace democracy or fairness. If they wanted to deal with those 
issues they would bring to the floor the Employee Free Choice Act, 
which I have long been a cosponsor of.
  Today again the Majority is showing the American public that the 
Majority don't think we have a jobs crisis in America, and that getting 
Americans back to work is not their top priority.
  Getting the American economy back on track and helping to create jobs 
is my first, second and third priority. Unlike the Majority, I remain 
committed to creating jobs immediately and expanding educational 
opportunity for all Americans. Unfortunately, my amendment to help keep 
almost 400,000 teachers in the classroom was rejected on procedural 
grounds.
  Rather than bringing to the floor legislation to help create jobs, we 
are wasting the time of this House attempting to undermine workers 
rights.
  The Election Prevention Act continues an assault on the National 
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the work it does to uphold the rights 
of workers across our county. This bill will NOT help create a single 
job. Rather, the bill would allow employers to delay union organizing 
elections in the hopes of discouraging workers from organizing, 
encourage frivolous litigation and manipulate the procedures of union 
elections.
  The NLRB has proposed real changes to restore fairness to the union 
election process and reduce unnecessary delays. For example the 
proposed rules would allow the electronic filing of petitions, ensure 
that all parties receive timely information about pending matters, and 
allow for the consolidation of all appeals into a single post-election 
appeals process. These are sensible changes. Yet, the Election 
Prevention Act would override these proposed rules, and make arbitrary 
delays commonplace.
  This bill is one more solution in search of a problem. The problem is 
jobs; the solution is Congress taking bold steps to get Americans back 
to work. At a town hall I recently held, no one asked me about the 
NLRB, they asked me about jobs and economic growth.
  We should be mindful of why Congress approved the National Labor 
Relations Act (NLRA) and established the NLRB in 1935. Senator Robert 
Wagner who wrote the NLRA reminded his colleagues that in 1935 ``in the 
highest income bracket, one-tenth of 1 percent of the families in the 
United States were earning as much as the 42 percent at the bottom.'' 
Today's economic conditions are remarkably similar.
  Yet, instead of helping workers organize and bargain collectively to 
help raise wages, improve workplace safety and ensure a comfortable 
retirement, the Election Prevention Act ignores the economic crisis 
facing American workers and makes the American Dream even harder to 
achieve.

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