[§377-4.6]  Streamlining union
certification.  (a)  When an employee, group of employees, or any
individual or labor organization acting on their behalf, files a petition
alleging that a majority of employees in a unit appropriate for the purposes of
collective bargaining wish to be represented by an individual or labor
organization for those purposes, the board shall investigate the petition.  If
the board finds that a majority of the employees in a unit appropriate for
bargaining have signed valid authorizations designating the individual or labor
organization specified in the petition as their bargaining representative, and
that no other individual or labor organization is currently certified or
recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit,
the board shall certify the individual or labor organization as the
representative without directing an election similar to that under section
377-1(11).



(b)  The board shall adopt rules governing the
certification of an exclusive representative under this section and shall have
the final determination on any controversy concerning the eligibility of an
employee to sign an authorization card and the validity of an employee's
signature on an authorization card.



(c)  For the purposes of this section, the term
"employee" means an employee as defined in section 377-1; provided
that the employee is employed by an employer with an annual gross revenue of
more than $5,000,000. [L Sp 2009, c 6, pt of §1]