House Passes Faster Labor Contracts Act on 230-193 Vote, Sending Union Arbitration Bill to Senate

U.S. House approved the Faster Labor Contracts Act by a vote of 230 to 193. Twenty Republicans joined Democrats to pass the bill. The legislation requires employers to begin contract negotiations within 10 days after workers vote to unionize.

If no agreement is reached after 90 days, either side may bring in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. After another 30 days without a deal, a three-member arbitration panel would issue a binding decision for two years. New Jersey Democrat Donald Norcross, a union electrician and the bill's sponsor, said at a press conference last fall, "No more stop the steals.

Norcross stated the measure would be the most significant new protection for workers since before World War II. " Republicans opposed to the bill described it as government overreach that would be bad for employers, employees and the economy. The CHRO Association, which represents chief human resource officers at 350 large corporations, called the measure "draconian" in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson.

Gregory Hoff, the association's general counsel, said union contracts can run hundreds of pages long and be in place for years. He added that it is unreasonable to expect a government arbitrator to understand workplace conditions better than the people who work there. The bill reached the floor through a discharge petition signed by seven Republicans along with Democrats.

The same tactic was used to force a House vote on the release of the Epstein files. Democrats have increasingly turned to discharge petitions to circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson. It takes an average of 465 days for workers and employers to reach a first contract after a successful union election, according to Bloomberg Law.

Starbucks baristas who unionized in late 2021 and Staten Island Amazon warehouse workers who unionized in the spring of 2022 still lack contracts. The measure now heads to the Senate, where it faces steeper odds. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is one of the bill's sponsors and supports it.

Hoff noted that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been diminished by the Trump administration. He said the agency would struggle to handle the volume of first contracts that could arise in a given year.