SAFE Workers Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 308 To direct the National Labor Relations Board to implement a system and procedures to conduct representation elections remotely using an elec- tronic voting system, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 13, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. BACON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCH- ESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. MI- CHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAP- TUR, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LAR- SON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MRVAN, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the National Labor Relations Board to implement a system and procedures to conduct representation elec- tions remotely using an electronic voting system, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 308 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SAFE Workers Act’’ 4 or the ‘‘Secure and Fair Elections for Workers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC VOTING IN UNION ELECTIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.— 7 (1) ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM.—Subject to 8 the provisions of this section, not later than 90 days 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Na- 10 tional Labor Relations Board shall implement a sys- 11 tem and procedures to conduct representation elec- 12 tions remotely using an electronic voting system. 13 (2) PROCEDURES.—The procedures under para- 14 graph (1) shall ensure that each employee voting in 15 a representation election may choose to cast a vote 16 using either an internet voting system or a telephone 17 voting system. 18 (3) NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD SYSTEM.—If 19 the Board does not implement a system under para- 20 graph (1) before the date that is 60 days after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Board shall 22 enter into a temporary agreement to use the system 23 and procedures used by the National Mediation 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 308 IH Board to conduct representation elections for the pe- 1 riod— 2 (A) beginning on the date that is 60 days 3 after the date of enactment of this Act; and 4 (B) ending on the date that is 90 days 5 after the date of enactment of this Act 6 (b) INTERIM PERIOD.—During the period beginning 7 on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending upon 8 the date on which the system and procedures are imple- 9 mented under subsection (a), the Board shall conduct all 10 representation elections by mail ballot. 11 (c) IMPRACTICABILITY.—A regional director shall 12 conduct a representation election by mail ballot if, during 13 a representation proceeding with respect to such election, 14 a party makes a showing that conducting such election 15 in accordance with the system and procedures under sub- 16 section (a) is impracticable. 17 (d) REPORT.— Not later than 90 days of the enact- 18 ment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the Board 19 shall submit to Congress a report containing a description 20 of the following: 21 (1) For each representation petition under sec- 22 tion 9 of the National Labor Relations Act filed— 23 (A) the case name and case number; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 308 IH (B) the number of days between the peti- 1 tion and the election; 2 (C) the number of days between the stipu- 3 lation or direction of election and the election; 4 (D) the method of the election; 5 (E) the results of the election; and 6 (F) the number of eligible voters, the num- 7 ber of voters participating in the election, and 8 the method by which each of the voters sub- 9 mitted their vote. 10 (2) The total cost of conducting all elections the 11 Board conducted through the system and procedures 12 required by subsection (a). 13 (e) PERIOD OF APPLICATION.—The requirements 14 under this section shall apply with respect to any represen- 15 tation election conducted during the period— 16 (1) beginning on the date of enactment of this 17 Act; and 18 (2) ending on the date on which a COVID–19 19 public health emergency is not in effect with respect 20 to the worksite of a participant of such election. 21 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM.—The term 23 ‘‘electronic voting system’’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 308 IH (A) includes an internet voting system and 1 a telephone voting system; and 2 (B) does not include machines used for 3 casting votes at a polling site or an electronic 4 tabulation system where votes are cast non-elec- 5 tronically but counted electronically (such as a 6 punch card or optical scanning system). 7 (2) INTERNET VOTING SYSTEM.—The term 8 ‘‘internet voting system’’ means an internet-based 9 voting system that allows a participant to cast a bal- 10 lot remotely using a personal computer or other mo- 11 bile electronic device that is connected to the inter- 12 net. 13 (3) TELEPHONE VOTING SYSTEM.—The term 14 ‘‘telephone voting system’’ means a voting system in 15 which participants may cast a vote remotely using a 16 telephone. 17 (4) REMOTELY.—The term ‘‘remotely’’, used 18 with respect to voting in a representation election, 19 means a vote may be cast at any site chosen by a 20 participant in such election. 21 (5) REPRESENTATION ELECTION.—The term 22 ‘‘representation election’’ means a representation 23 election under section 9 of the National Labor Rela- 24 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 159). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 308 IH (6) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 1 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 2 means a public health emergency with respect to 3 COVID–19 declared by a Federal, State, or local au- 4 thority. 5 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There are 6 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to the Board 7 to carry out this section. 8 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO FURTHER CONSOLIDATED APPRO- 9 PRIATIONS ACT. 10 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public 11 Law 116–260) is amended by striking section 407. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H308.IH H308 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS