The Workplace Democracy Act of 1999 (HR 1277) was a proposed US labor law in the United States House of Representatives, sponsored by Bernie Sanders. It would have removed obstacles to employers making collective agreements, established an impartial National Public Employment Relations Commission to support fair collective bargaining, and required that pensions plans are jointly managed by employee and employer representatives.
Given the long term decline in collective bargaining and the rise in inequality, a susbtantial number of employee representatives, Democratic politicians, labor unions, academics, judges and lawyers had been advocating the revision of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. On 24 March 1999, Bernie Sanders introduced the Bill to the US House of Representatives. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations on 30 April 1999. It stalled by 20 December 2000. A similar set of proposals regarding pension fund management was reintroduced by Representative Peter Visclosky in the Employees’ Pension Security Act of 2008, but this also did not yet progress.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE- This Act may be cited as the ‘Workplace Democracy Act of 1999’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Declaration of purpose and policy.
Sec. 3. Application of Act.
TITLE I--GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Sec. 101. Right to first contract.
Sec. 102. Strikes, boycotts, and hot cargo agreements. "Section 8(b)(4) and subsection (e) of the National Labor Relations Act are repealed."
Sec. 103. Treatment of guards.
Sec. 104. Card recognition for collective bargaining units. Amends Section 9 of the NLRA to allow a simple card check for recognizing majority support for a union.
Sec. 105. Enforcement and authority of National Labor Relations Board.
Sec. 106. Repealing prohibition authority.
TITLE II—GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Sec. 201. Definitions.
Sec. 202. National Public Employment Relations Commission.
Sec. 203. Rights of employees and employee organizations.
Sec. 204. Representatives and collective-bargaining units.
Sec. 205. Impasse in collective bargaining over the terms and conditions of employment and other matters of mutual concern relating thereto.
Sec. 206. Disputes over the interpretation or application of agreements.
Sec. 207. Strikes.
Sec. 208. Impasse procedures for firefighters and public safety officers.
Sec. 209. Strikes and firefighters and public safety officers.
Sec. 210. Unlawful acts.
Sec. 211. Prevention of unlawful acts.
Sec. 212. Applicability of this Act.
Sec. 213. Miscellaneous.
Sec. 214. Effective date.
TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING PENSION PLANS
Sec. 301. Requirements relating to trusteeship of single-employer plans. Amending Section 403(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, inserting the following:
Sec. 302. Effective date.
