Many employers have concerns about a labor reform bill that would amend the National Labor Relations Act to shorten collective bargaining contract negotiations through mediation and arbitration. The bill, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, has some bipartisan support and is advancing in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Senate is considering companion legislation.
“The business community is overwhelmingly opposed to the bill,” said Alex MacDonald, an attorney with Littler in Washington, D.C.
In the House, seven Republicans have joined nearly all Democrats in signing a discharge petition to force a vote on the bill on the House floor, noted Jim Plunkett, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Washington, D.C.
“That vote will likely take place sometime in June, and proponents of the bill have a good chance of prevailing,” he said. “There are three Republican supporters of the bill in the Senate. The White House’s position on the bill is unclear at this time.”
The conventional wisdom is that the bill is unlikely to be enacted for now, but it has notable momentum, according to John Ring, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Washington, D.C., and Brian Mahoney, an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Philadelphia.
That said, the bill has a shot at being enacted this Congress or the next, Plunkett said.
“If enacted, it would materially change the timeline for first-contract negotiations,” according to Ring and Mahoney. “It...
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