House committee approves bills to revise union election process

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce today voted 22-16 to approve legislation to restore certain long-standing union election procedures that the National Labor Relations Board eliminated when revising the election procedures in 2015. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 2776), introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), would prohibit union elections from being held less than 35 days after an election petition is filed; give employers at least 14 days to prepare for a pre-election hearing and restore the right to challenge certain issues through a pre-election hearing before the Board; and reinstate the traditional “community of interest” test for determining which employees are eligible to vote in the scheduled election, among other changes. The committee also voted 22-16 to approve the Employee Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 2775), introduced by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), which would give employers seven days after a bargaining unit is determined to provide NLRB with the required list of employee names and contact information for those in the bargaining unit that is the focus of the election. The bill also would allow employees to choose their preferred way for receiving union communications.