Secret Ballot Protection Act · Introduced in House (2025-03-21)

Congress finds that—

the importance of a secret ballot election has been recognized by the United States for over 100 years;
the fundamental democratic right to choose by secret ballot is the only method that ensures a choice free of coercion, intimidation, irregularity, or illegality;
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
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.

(a) Recognition of representative

(1) In general
- Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act () is amended by inserting before the colon the following: . 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)
(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 (), as amended by subsection (c) of this section, is amended— 29 U.S.C. 158(b)
  - by striking and at the end of paragraph (6);
  - by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) and inserting ; and; and
    - 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.
  - by adding at the end the following:
(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.

(1) Designation of representative by secret ballot
- Section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (), is amended— 29 U.S.C. 159(a)
  - by inserting after ; and
  - by inserting after the following: .
(2) Decertification
- 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).
- Such section is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(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 () is amended— 29 U.S.C. 159(c)(1)
- in subparagraph (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
  - in clause (ii), by striking section 9(a);and inserting subsection (a),; and
- in subparagraph (B), by striking and all that follows through .

H.R. 2241