BILL REQ. #:  H-4311.1 

Read first time 01/22/2004.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to protecting the human rights of workers to organize; adding a new section to chapter 49.60 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that:
     (1) Respect for human rights includes respect for fundamental worker rights;
     (2) The foundation of worker rights is freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collectively bargain over terms and conditions of employment;
     (3) These rights have been adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, of which the United States is a member state;
     (4) As a member state, the United States has pledged to ensure that its domestic labor law fully protects these fundamental worker rights;
     (5) These fundamental worker rights are also a statutory right under the law of the state of Washington;
     (6) These worker rights are not adequately protected when enforcement under the federal law is ineffective because of lengthy delays and procedural barriers; and
     (7) To ensure that workers are free of discrimination when exercising their rights, a mechanism for supporting these rights is necessary in state law.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 49.60 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A petition may be filed with the commission by a person claiming to be aggrieved because the exercise of his or her right under RCW 49.36.010, or under any statute, treaty, or agreement of the United States, to form, join, or assist, or to seek to form, join, or assist, a labor organization, has been interfered with, restrained, or coerced by another. Such a petition must be filed within six months of the alleged interference, restraint, or coercion.
     (2) Upon receiving a petition under this section, the chair of the commission shall request the appointment of an administrative law judge under Title 34 RCW to hear the petition in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, and shall cause to be issued and served in the name of the commission a written notice, together with a copy of the petition, requiring the respondent to appear at a hearing before the administrative law judge, at a time and place to be specified in the notice.
     (3) The administrative law judge, within thirty days after the conclusion of the hearing, shall issue and file with the commission findings of fact determining whether the petitioner's rights have been interfered with, restrained, or coerced. The commission shall cause the findings to be served to the petitioner and respondent in an order in the name of the commission.
     (4) If the petitioner or the respondent is aggrieved by the order issued under this section by the commission, the aggrieved party may ask for reconsideration of the order by the commission within twenty days of the party's receipt of the order. The commission shall review the findings based on the record of the administrative law judge and issue a further determinative order. The further determinative order issued by the commission is final and not subject to further commission or judicial review.