2014 New York Laws
LAB - Labor
Article 20 - (700 - 718) NEW YORK STATE LABOR RELATIONS ACT
705 - Representatives and elections.

 705. Representatives and elections. 1. Representatives designated by
  the  board  after  a  showing  of  majority interest or selected for the
  purposes of collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in  a
  unit  appropriate  for such purposes or by the majority of the employees
  voting in an election conducted pursuant to this section  shall  be  the
  exclusive  representatives  of all the employees in the appropriate unit
  for the purposes of collective bargaining in respect to  rates  of  pay,
  wages, hours of employment, or other conditions of employment: Provided,
  that  employees,  directly  or  through  representatives, shall have the
  right at any time to present grievances to their employer.
The board shall designate a representative for purposes of  collective
  bargaining  when  such representative demonstrates a showing of majority
  interest by employees in the unit. In  cases  where  the  parties  to  a
  dispute  are  without agreement on the means to ascertain the choice, if
  any, of employee organization as their representative, the  board  shall
  ascertain  such employees' choice of employee organization, on the basis
  of dues deduction authorization and other evidence, or if  necessary  by
  conducting  an  election. In the event that either party provides to the
  board,  prior  to  the  designation  of  a  representative,  clear   and
  convincing  evidence  that  the dues deduction authorizations, and other
  evidence upon which the board would  otherwise  rely  to  ascertain  the
  employees'  choice  of  representative,  are fraudulent or were obtained
  through  coercion,  the  board  shall  promptly  thereafter  conduct  an
  election.  The  board  shall  also  investigate  and  consider a party's
  allegations that the dues deduction authorizations and  other  evidences
  submitted  in  support  of  a  designation  of representative without an
  election were subsequently changed, altered, withdrawn or withheld as  a
  result  of  employer  fraud, coercion or any other unfair employer labor
  practice as defined in section seven hundred four of  this  article.  If
  the  board  determines  that  a representative would have had a majority
  interest  but  for  the  employer's  fraud,  coercion  or  unfair  labor
  practice,  it  shall designate the representative without the conduct of
  an election.
2. The board shall decide in each case whether, in order to insure  to
  employees  the  full  benefit  of  their  right to self-organization, to
  collective bargaining and otherwise to effectuate the policies  of  this
  article,  the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
  shall be the employer unit, multiple employer unit,  craft  unit,  plant
  unit,  or  any other unit; provided, however, that in any case where the
  majority of employees of a  particular  craft,  or  in  the  case  of  a
  non-profitmaking  hospital or residential care center where the majority
  of employees of a particular profession or craft, shall  so  decide  the
  board shall designate such profession or craft as a unit appropriate for
  the purpose of collective bargaining.
3.  Whenever it is alleged by an employee or his representative, or by
  an  employer  or  his  representative,  that  there  is  a  question  or
  controversy  concerning the representation of employees, the board shall
  investigate such question or controversy and certify in writing  to  all
  persons concerned the name or names of the representatives who have been
  designated  or  selected.  In  any  such  investigation  the board shall
  provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice, either in conjuction
  with a proceeding under section seven hundred six or otherwise, and  may
  conduct  an  election  by  secret  ballot of employees, or use any other
  suitable method to ascertain  such  representatives  (either  before  or
  after  the  aforesaid  hearing), provided, however, that the board shall
  not  have  authority  to  investigate  or  determine  any  question   or
  controversy   between  individuals  or  groups  within  the  same  labor
  organization nor between labor organizations affiliated  with  the  same

  parent  labor  organization concerning the internal affairs of any labor
  organization but nothing contained in this proviso shall  be  deemed  to
  preclude  the board from investigating and determining which, if any, of
  affiliated  groups  or  labor  organizations  have  been  designated  or
  selected by employees as  their  representatives  for  the  purposes  of
  collective bargaining within the meaning of this article.
4.  The board shall have power to determine who may participate in the
  election and  to  establish  the  rules  governing  any  such  election:
  Provided,  that no election need be directed by the board solely because
  of the request of an employer or of employees prompted thereto by  their
  employer,  nor shall any individuals employed only for the duration of a
  strike or lockout be eligible to vote in  such  election;  and  provided
  further,  that  no such election shall be conducted under the employer's
  supervision, or, except  as  may  be  required  by  the  board,  on  the
  employer's  property, during working hours, or with his participation or
  assistance.
5. If at an election conducted pursuant to this section three or  more
  nominees  for  exclusive collective bargaining representatives appear on
  the ballot and no one of them receives a majority of the votes  cast  at
  the  election, the two nominees who received the highest number of votes
  shall appear on  the  ballot  of  a  second  election  to  be  conducted
  hereunder,  and  the  one  receiving a majority of the votes cast at the
  second election  shall  be  the  exclusive  representative  of  all  the
  employees  in  such  unit  for  the  purpose of collective bargaining in
  respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or other conditions
  of employment.
6. A labor organization nominated as the representative  of  employees
  shall  be  listed by name on the ballots authorized by subdivision three
  of this section. In any investigation conducted by the board pursuant to
  this section the board may make a finding as to whether  any  committee,
  employee  representation plan, or association of employees involved is a
  company union, and if any such committee, employee representation  plan,
  or association of employees be found to be a company union, it shall not
  be  listed on the ballots, certified or otherwise recognized as eligible
  to be the representative of employees under this article.