§ 705 — Representatives and elections

New York § 705

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law LAB: Labor
• Art. 20: New York State Labor Relations Act

Text

§ 705. Representatives and elections. 1. Representatives designated by\nthe board after a showing of majority interest or selected for the\npurposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a\nunit appropriate for such purposes or by the majority of the employees\nvoting in an election conducted pursuant to this section shall be the\nexclusive representatives of all the employees in the appropriate unit\nfor the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to rates of pay,\nwages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided,\nthat employees, directly or through representatives, shall have the\nright at any time to present grievances to their employer.\n The board shall designate a representative for purposes of collective\nbargaining when such representative demonstrates a showing of majority\ninterest by employees in the unit. In cases where the parties to a\ndispute are without agreement on the means to ascertain the choice, if\nany, of employee organization as their representative, the board shall\nascertain such employees' choice of employee organization, on the basis\nof dues deduction authorization and other evidence, or if necessary by\nconducting an election. In the event that either party provides to the\nboard, prior to the designation of a representative, clear and\nconvincing evidence that the dues deduction authorizations, and other\nevidence upon which the board would otherwise rely to ascertain the\nemployees' choice of representative, are fraudulent or were obtained\nthrough coercion, the board shall promptly thereafter conduct an\nelection. The board shall also investigate and consider a party's\nallegations that the dues deduction authorizations and other evidences\nsubmitted in support of a designation of representative without an\nelection were subsequently changed, altered, withdrawn or withheld as a\nresult of employer fraud, coercion or any other unfair employer labor\npractice as defined in section seven hundred four of this article. If\nthe board determines that a representative would have had a majority\ninterest but for the employer's fraud, coercion or unfair labor\npractice, it shall designate the representative without the conduct of\nan election.\n 1-a. If the choice available to the employees in a negotiating unit is\nlimited to selecting or rejecting a single employee organization, that\nchoice shall be ascertained by the board on the basis of dues deduction\nauthorizations instead of by an election. In such case, the employee\norganization involved will be certified without an election if a\nmajority of the employees within the unit have executed a showing dues\ndeductions authorizations.\n 1-b. The board shall determine whether any supervisory employee shall\nbe excluded from any negotiating unit that includes rank-and-file farm\nlaborers; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision shall be\nconstrued to limit or prohibit any supervisory employee from organizing\na separate negotiating unit.\n 2. The board shall decide in each case whether, in order to insure to\nemployees the full benefit of their right to self-organization, to\ncollective bargaining and otherwise to effectuate the policies of this\narticle, the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining\nshall be the employer unit, multiple employer unit, craft unit, plant\nunit, or any other unit; provided, however, that in any case where the\nmajority of employees of a particular craft, or in the case of a\nnon-profitmaking hospital or residential care center where the majority\nof employees of a particular profession or craft, shall so decide the\nboard shall designate such profession or craft as a unit appropriate for\nthe purpose of collective bargaining.\n 3. Whenever it is alleged by an employee or his representative, or by\nan employer or his representative, that there is a question or\ncontroversy concerning the representation of employees, the board shall\ninvestigate such question or controversy and certify in writing to all\npersons concerned the name or names of the representatives who have been\ndesignated or selected. In any such investigation the board shall\nprovide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, either in conjuction\nwith a proceeding under section seven hundred six or otherwise, and may\nconduct an election by secret ballot of employees, or use any other\nsuitable method to ascertain such representatives (either before or\nafter the aforesaid hearing), provided, however, that the board shall\nnot have authority to investigate or determine any question or\ncontroversy between individuals or groups within the same labor\norganization nor between labor organizations affiliated with the same\nparent labor organization concerning the internal affairs of any labor\norganization but nothing contained in this proviso shall be deemed to\npreclude the board from investigating and determining which, if any, of\naffiliated groups or labor organizations have been designated or\nselected by employees as their representatives for the purposes of\ncollective bargaining within the meaning of this article.\n 4. The board shall have power to determine who may participate in the\nelection and to establish the rules governing any such election:\nProvided, that no election need be directed by the board solely because\nof the request of an employer or of employees prompted thereto by their\nemployer, nor shall any individuals employed only for the duration of a\nstrike or lockout be eligible to vote in such election; and provided\nfurther, that no such election shall be conducted under the employer's\nsupervision, or, except as may be required by the board, on the\nemployer's property, during working hours, or with his participation or\nassistance.\n 5. If at an election conducted pursuant to this section three or more\nnominees for exclusive collective bargaining representatives appear on\nthe ballot and no one of them receives a majority of the votes cast at\nthe election, the two nominees who received the highest number of votes\nshall appear on the ballot of a second election to be conducted\nhereunder, and the one receiving a majority of the votes cast at the\nsecond election shall be the exclusive representative of all the\nemployees in such unit for the purpose of collective bargaining in\nrespect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions\nof employment.\n 6. A labor organization nominated as the representative of employees\nshall be listed by name on the ballots authorized by subdivision three\nof this section. In any investigation conducted by the board pursuant to\nthis section the board may make a finding as to whether any committee,\nemployee representation plan, or association of employees involved is a\ncompany union, and if any such committee, employee representation plan,\nor association of employees be found to be a company union, it shall not\nbe listed on the ballots, certified or otherwise recognized as eligible\nto be the representative of employees under this article.\n