House-passed law would impose ‘collective bargaining’ contracts

An unusual, bipartisan coalition of House members voted to pass the Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA), a law that would impose fast-track bargaining schedules for initial contracts and could end in having government arbitrators impose two-year contracts on the parties. 

What the FLCA does 

The FLCA would change the current open-ended bargaining and replace it with an accelerated bargaining timeline and a mandatory process that can result in the imposition of first-contract terms. Under the terms of the highly controversial bill, bargaining would have to begin within 10 days of a union’s written demand. If the parties haven’t reached agreement within 90 days, either party—but more likely the union—could request the involvement of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). This, in turn, would initiate 30 days of mediation. If that doesn’t produce an agreement, the dispute would proceed to binding interest arbitration, and the resulting first-contract terms would bind the employer for two years. 

Twenty Republicans joined with Democrats to pass the bill as part of a party initiative to sway blue-collar workers with union sympathies. The FLCA now heads to the Senate, where it will meet fierce opposition despite being supported by Republican Senators Josh Hawley (MO), Roger Marshall (KS), and Bernie Moreno (OH), as well as by a surprisingly small cadre of Democrats. 

Zealous opposition from business community