employers from violating the National Labor Relations Act. The remedies and penalties for violations of such Act are far weaker than for other labor and employment laws, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.). Unlike other major labor and employment laws, there are no civil penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Workers cannot go to court to pursue relief on their own and must rely on the National Labor Relations Board to prosecute their case. (7) Unlike orders of other Federal agencies, the orders of the National Labor Relations Board are not enforced until the Board seeks enforcement from the Court of Appeals. As far back as 1969, the Administrative Conference of the United States recognized that the absence of a self-enforcing agency order imposes wasteful delays in the enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act, and recommended that the Board’s orders be made self-enforcing like those of other agencies. Congress did not act upon this recommendation, and delays in the Board’s enforcement remain a problem for such Act to be an effective law. (8) Many workers do not currently enjoy the protections of the National Labor Relations Act because they are excluded from coverage under such Act or interpretations of such Act. (9) Too often, workers who choose to form labor organizations are frustrated when their employers use delay and other tactics to avoid reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement. Estimates are that in as many as half of new organizing campaigns, workers and their employers fail to reach an initial collective bargaining agreement. (10) In order to make the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association in the workplace a reality for workers, the National Labor Relations Act must be strengthened. 3. Purposes The purposes of this Act are— (1) to strengthen protections for employees engaged in collective bargaining to improve their wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment