Protection on the Picket Line Act

This Act may be cited as the Protection on the Picket Line Act.

Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(h) In any case in which an employer takes disciplinary action against an employee for harassment or abuse that occurs in the course of activity protected under section 7, it shall not be an unfair labor practice under this section for the employer to take such disciplinary action unless—

(1) the General Counsel makes an initial showing that—

(A) the employee engaged in activity protected under section 7;

(B) the employer knew of that activity; and

(C) the employer had animus against that activity, as proven with evidence sufficient to establish a causal relationship between the disciplinary action and the activity protected under section 7; and

(2) the employer has not met the burden of persuasion to prove that the employer would have taken the same disciplinary action in the absence of the activity protected under section 7.

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