March 21, 2025
Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
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.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Secret Ballot Protection Act
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds that—
(1)
the importance of a secret ballot election has been recognized by the United States for over 100 years;
(2)
the fundamental democratic right 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 way of a private agreement, rather than a secret ballot election supervised by a neutral third party, threatens an employee’s right, codified in the National Labor Relations Act, to choose whether or not to be represented by a labor organization; and
(4)
preserving workers’ right to choose whether or not to be represented by a labor organization through a secret ballot election is important to the strength of the national economy.
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 employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes in a secret ballot election conducted by the 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 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 employees in a unit appropriate for such purposes in a secret ballot election conducted by the 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 enactment of this Act.
(c) Secret ballot election required
(1) Designation of representative by secret ballot
Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), is amended—
(A)
by inserting (1)
after (a)
; and
(B)
by inserting after designated or selected
the following: by a secret ballot election conducted by the Board in accordance with this section
.
(2) Decertification
Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(2)
The Board shall conduct a secret ballot election to determine whether a labor organization certified or recognized by an employer as the representative for the purposes of collective bargaining is no longer the representative of a unit as defined in paragraph (1).
(3) Application
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall not apply to collective bargaining relationships that were recognized before the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Conforming amendments
Section 9(c)(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A)—
(A)
in clause (i), by striking and that their employer declines to recognize their representative as the representative defined in section 9(a)
and inserting by a representative
; and
(B)
in clause (ii), by striking section 9(a);
and inserting subsection (a),
; and
(2)
in subparagraph (B), by striking alleging
and all that follows through defined in section 9(a)
.
Sec. 4. Regulations
Not later than 6 months after the date of 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.