Workplace Democracy Act of 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Regarding Rights of Employees and Enforcement Authority of the National Labor Relations Board Title II: General Provisions Regarding Rights of Employees and Enforcement Authority for the National Labor Relations Board Title III: General Provisions Regarding Pension Plans Workplace Democracy Act of 1997 - Applies the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to U.S. companies and their subsidiaries operating in any country signatory to a Free Trade Agreement. Gives workers of such companies and subsidiaries the right to file unfair labor practice complaints against the U.S. parent company under this Act and under the laws of the signatory country. Title I: General Provisions Regarding Rights of Employees and Enforcement Authority of the National Labor Relations Board - Amends the NLRA to give a union the option of sending a contract dispute to compulsory and binding arbitration, if by 45 days after certification a collective bargaining agreement has not been reached. (Sec. 102) Repeals specified prohibitions against strikes, boycotts, and hot cargo agreements. (Sec. 103) Repeals specified provisions relating to determinations of bargaining units by the National Labor Relations Board (the Board), including conditions relating to professional and non-professional employees, craft units, and guards. (Sec. 104) Directs the Board to promulgate rules which plainly define the characteristics of employee units appropriate for collective bargaining groups, including employee groups who have a community of interests. Requires the Board, upon receipt of a majority of signed union recognition cards of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit (as determined by the workers within such Board guidelines), to certify the labor organizations designated as the exclusive representatives of all employees in such unit. (Sec. 105) Revises provisions relating to enforcement and the authority of the Board in the prevention of unfair labor practices, including provisions relating to taking of testimony and to Board findings and orders. Provides, in addition to other remedial relief for unfair labor practices, the remedy of making employees whole for the loss of economic benefits resulting from specified violations. Requires the Board to: (1) use its injunctive power upon determining that an employer has willfully violated unfair labor practice prohibitions; and (2) assess minimum civil penalties against employers for each willful violation of the NLRA. Requires an employer, upon issuance of a complaint alleging an unfair labor practice, to reinstate a discharged employee pending adjudication and final review of such complaint. Allows any person who suffers financial injury by reason of a violation of a specified unfair labor practice prohibition to bring a civil action for treble damages. Makes a final judgment or decree of the Board to the effect that a defendant has committed such a violation prima facie evidence in any such action. (Sec. 106) Repeals provisions which allow a State or Territory to prohibit union security agreements (which require union membership as a condition of employment). Title II: General Provisions Regarding Rights of Employees and Enforcement Authority for the National Labor Relations Board - Sets forth provisions relating to the rights and obligations of public employees, and establishes procedures governing employer-employee relations in the special context of public employment. (Sec. 202) Creates the National Public Employment Relations Commission (the Commission). (Sec. 203) Sets forth the rights of public employees, including the rights to form, join, or assist employee organizations and to bargain collectively with employers. Sets forth the rights of public employee organizations. (Sec. 204) Provides for: (1) public employee representatives and collective bargaining units; (2) impasses in collective bargaining over terms and conditions of employment and other related matters; (3) disputes over the interpretation or application of agreements; (4) public employees' and their unions' right to strike, and conditions under which a restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction may be granted in a case involving such a strike; (5) impasse procedures for fire fighters and public safety officers; (6) a prohibition against strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, or withholding of service by fire fighters or public safety officers or their unions; (7) unlawful acts by employers or employee organizations and exclusive representatives of public employees; (8) Commission prevention of such unlawful acts; and (9) State authority to adopt rules that give public employees additional rights. Title III: General Provisions Regarding Pension Plans - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans, with equal representation of the interests of the employer or employers maintaining the plan and of the those of the participants and their beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations relating to such requirement.