[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 866 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 866
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of
employees to a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor
Relations Board.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2007
Mr. Norwood (for himself, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Kline of Minnesota, Mr.
Boehner, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Akin, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Bishop of
Utah, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Bonner, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Brady of Texas, Ms.
Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Calvert, Mr.
Campbell of California, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Coble, Mr. Conaway, Mr.
Crenshaw, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Culberson, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Mario
Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Feeney, Mr. Flake, Ms. Foxx,
Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr.
Gingrey, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Hayes, Mr. Hensarling, Mr. Herger, Mr. Inglis
of South Carolina, Mr. Issa, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Keller of
Florida, Mr. King of Iowa, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Latham, Mr.
Lewis of Kentucky, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Marchant, Mr. McHenry, Mrs.
McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Pearce, Mr.
Pence, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Price of Georgia, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Souder, Mr. Sullivan, Mr.
Westmoreland, Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Wilson of South Carolina) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education
and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure the right of
employees to a secret-ballot election conducted by the National Labor
Relations Board.
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 ``Secret Ballot Protection 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; and
(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
National Labor Relations Board to ensure the protection of
workers.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.
(a) Recognition of Representative.--
(1) In general.--Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is amended by inserting
before the colon the following: ``or to recognize or bargain
collectively with a labor organization that has not been
selected by a majority of such employees in a secret ballot
election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board in
accordance with section 9''.
(2) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships in which
a labor organization with majority support was lawfully
recognized before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Election Required.--
(1) In general.--Section 8(b) of the National Labor
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(b)), as amended by subsection (c)
of this section, is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph
(6);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(7) and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize
or bargain collectively with a representative of a labor
organization that has not been selected by a majority of such
employees in a secret ballot election conducted by the National
Labor Relations Board in accordance with section 9.''.
(2) Application.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall
not apply to collective bargaining relationships that were
recognized before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Secret Ballot Election.--Section 9(a) of the National Labor
Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'';
(2) by inserting after ``designated or selected'' the
following: ``by a secret ballot election conducted by the
National Labor Relations Board in accordance with this
section''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) The secret ballot election requirement of paragraph
(1) shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships that
were recognized before the date of the enactment of this
Act.''.
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act
the National Labor Relations Board shall review and revise all
regulations promulgated before such date to implement the amendments
made in this Act to the National Labor Relations Act.
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