Right to Organize Act of 1999

Right to Organize Act of 1999 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to revise requirements relating to employer and labor organization (union) presentations to employees on issues relating to union representation. (Sec. 2) Requires that, if an employer (or employer representative) addresses employees on the employer's premises or during work hours on such issues, the employees be assured, without loss of time or pay, an equal opportunity to obtain, in an equivalent manner, information concerning issues from a union. Requires that unions, subject to reasonable regulation by the National Labor Relations Board, have: (1) access to areas in which employees work; (2) the right to use the employer's bulletin boards, mailboxes, and other communication media; and (3) the right to use the employer's facilities for the purpose of meetings with respect to the exercise of the rights guaranteed by NLRA. (Sec. 3) Requires the Board to: (1) award back pay equal to three times the employee's wages upon finding that an employee was discharged as a result of an unfair labor practice; and (2) notify the employee of the right to sue for punitive damages and (compensatory) damages with respect to wrongful discharge under the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (LMRA). Amends LMRA to: (1) prohibit employers from discharging employees for exercising rights protected under NLRA; and (2) allow employees to file civil actions in U.S. district courts to recover punitive damages when they have been discharged as a result of an unfair labor practice, or if actionable, in any State court to recover damages based on wrongful discharge. (Sec. 4) Amends NLRA to establish mediation and arbitration procedures for initial contract collective bargaining agreements. Requires mediation if the employer and union cannot reach agreement on their own within 60 days after certification of a new union. Allows either party to transfer matters remaining in controversy to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for binding arbitration if the parties have not reached agreement 30 days after a mediator is selected.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 17, 1999. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

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