Congress Should Reject the “Faster Labor Contracts Act”

House Democrats are trying to force the “Faster Labor Contracts Act” through Congress as a handout for their union boss cronies. This anti-worker legislation, and the discharge petition associated with it, should be rejected.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act (H.R. 5408 / S. 844) was introduced in the House by Congressman Donald Norcross (D-N.J.). The Senate version was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), joined by Democrat Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), as well as Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).

At its core, the Faster Labor Contracts Act would grant government bureaucrats the ability to force union contracts onto workers and businesses alike.

Under the legislation, if a collective bargaining period between a business and a labor union has lasted more than 90 days without both parties agreeing to a new contract, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) can step in to take the matter to mediation. If that mediation process goes on for another 30 days and the parties still cannot come to an agreement, the FMCS will construct a 3-person arbitration panel to “render a decision settling the dispute.” The terms imposed by the arbitration panel are “binding for a period of 2 years,” locking both parties into terms that they did not agree to.

This bill turns the collective bargaining process on its head: Rather than negotiating to reach a mutual agreement on a contract that works for both the business and the workers, the government will simply force contract terms onto both parties from the top down. As a result, it’s not just businesses which could face unfavorable terms. The workers lose their voices entirely as well.

When Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, questioned witnesses at a hearing in October, even the Democrats’ witnesses agreed that this is bad for workers.

Chairman Cassidy explained that this mandated arbitration “takes workers out of the process by removing the need to ratify a contract,” which therefore contains terms that the workers “cannot reject.”

“What would happen if workers lost that ability to ratify a contract?” Cassidy asked.

“That would be removing democracy from the workplace,” replied the Democrats’ witness, himself a union organizer.

Despite this, the Faster Labor Contracts Act has since gained more cosponsors, which are almost entirely Democrats. In the House, Democrats are pushing for the passage of a discharge petition to force the bill through Congress. Union bosses such as Teamsters President Sean O’Brien are running an aggressive campaign to push for the bill’s passage, including attempts to fool Republicans into signing on.

Republicans shouldn’t fall for the scheme, and Congress shouldn’t take away the voices of workers through forced arbitration. Members should reject the Faster Labor Contracts Act.