Dive Brief:
- The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a bill that would accelerate negotiations between employers and workers who have voted to form or join a union.
- The result of the bill — should it become law — would create deadlines for specific negotiations and recourse for workers to settle disputes, tipping scales in favor of unions and other labor organizers. One contractor trade group referred to the potential law as a “disgrace.”
- When workers vote for labor representation, the resulting negotiation can drag out. The bill cites a 2021 Bloomberg Law study finding it took 465 days on average between the vote and final contract approval.
Dive Insight:
Should the Faster Labor Contracts Act pass the Senate and get signed into law, employers would have 10 days to begin contract negotiations after a worker vote.
After 90 days without agreement, either party can contact the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an agency that handles labor disputes. After another 30 days, a three-member arbitration panel would step in.
Though not yet enacted, employers should pay attention to the implications of such a law, said Trent Cotney, partner and construction team leader at law firm Adams and Reese.
“Labor rates and terms in a collective bargaining agreement directly implicate project pricing and scheduling, among other things,” Cotney told Construction Dive. “Therefore, the accelerated time frames of the FLCA should be a concern for the industry.”
Associated Builders and Contractors decried the FLCA as a “disgrace” and criticized the 20 Republicans who broke with party lines to side with Democrats on passing the bill.
Mike Bellaman, CEO and president of ABC, said the bill would destroy “voluntary agreement and good-faith labor-management negotiations” and put the contracts in the hands of the government, rather than private parties.
“The FLCA imposes arbitrary and unrealistic deadlines on employers to finalize negotiations with newly elected unions or face ‘binding interest arbitration of first contracts,’” Bellaman said. “In practice, this means, for the first time in American history, a federal government bureaucrat will appoint an individual to dictate exactly what is included in a contract between two private negotiating parties.”
He called on the Senate and President Donald Trump to reject the legislation.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hogan, CEO of The Association of Union Constructors, praised the bill in a statement shared with Construction Dive.
“TAUC applauds the bipartisan House passage of the Faster Labor Contracts Act,” said Hogan. “Strong labor-management relationships are the foundation of union construction, and our industry delivers its best results when both sides come to the table and work toward practical solutions.”
