During a Wednesday markup session, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce voted along party lines in favor of sending to the House floor two bills that would effectively prevent the National Labor Relations Board from moving forward with its proposed expedited or "ambush" election rule in its current form. According to Chairman John Kline (R-MN), the two bills "provide an appropriate government response" to the Board's proposed rule.
As previously discussed, the Board recently reissued its expansive proposal to change and expedite union election procedures, as well as remove many employer due process rights. The Board is scheduled to hold two days of public meetings on this proposal today and Friday.
The outcry over this proposed rule has been swift and passionate and prompted the two bills at issue. The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 4320) would counter many of the changes to union election procedures that the proposed rule would impose, while the Employee Privacy Protection Act (H.R. 4321) would create privacy safeguards for information employers are required to provide to unions during election campaigns.
During the hearing, Democratic members offered as amendments to the measures several previously-introduced bills, including the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2014 and the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, but were all rejected as beyond the scope of the underlying labor measures.
While the two labor bills are expected to clear the House, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is not expected to take up the measures in the Senate.
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