Posts tagged binding arbitration
Workers voted for a voice — not another Washington mandate
September 22, 2026 // But ALG raises a question Congress should take seriously: What happens when controversial noneconomic provisions become part of first-contract negotiations that ultimately end in binding arbitration? Who gets the final say? That question matters because the American labor movement isn’t simply a collection of union executives in Washington. It is millions of truck drivers, electricians, teachers, police officers, factory workers, construction workers and other Americans who get up every morning and earn a paycheck.
Trucking groups challenge bill that expands labor arbitration
August 7, 2026 // Representing American Trucking Associations as president, Chris Spear described the bill as government-mandated contracting instead of collective bargaining. He said if passed, the changes would eliminate employees from voting to approve an arbitration-imposed contract.
Unions Are Coming for Your Uber Driver
August 4, 2026 // The sectoral-bargaining approach made headway in 2022, when California signed the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Act, or FAST, into law. The act was replaced by a compromise agreement before going into full effect. But under the original provisions, it would have established a 10-member Fast Food Council appointed by the governor and state Legislature to set labor rules for the Golden State’s fast-food industry. The FAST Act marked a pivot toward sectoral-bargaining strategies in America, importing the tactic from Europe and Australia. For decades before the FAST Act, the United Auto Workers used tactics like “pattern bargaining” in negotiations with the Big Three automakers.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act: What You Need to Know
July 31, 2026 // While the FLCA may accelerate the negotiation process for both the employer and the union to reach an initial contract, faster does not always mean better, and the binding arbitration provision sidelines the interests of both parties and leaves the decisions about worker pay, benefits, and working conditions in the hands of arbitrators acting under the auspices of the federal government. The arbitrary timelines under the FLCA, while making the negotiation process move faster, may not give sufficient time for both parties to reach an initial contract that best represents the interests of both sides, given all the facts and circumstances of the working arrangement.
Op-ed: A GOP Gift to the Cultural Left
June 15, 2026 // We wonder if Republicans know what they’ve voted for—and not merely on wages or pensions. Unions, allied with Democrats, have long supported a progressive agenda that includes collective bargaining for abortion coverage and transgender healthcare. The model language the AFL-CIO recommends to local chapters says “all health plans offered to bargaining unit members shall cover comprehensive . . . reproductive healthcare services, including contraceptives, abortion services . . . and gender affirming care.” In 2012 the Service Employees International Union unanimously approved a resolution “calling on local unions to bargain for trans-inclusive healthcare.” The NewsGuild of New York/Communications Workers of America said in 2022 it “unequivocally supports access to abortion as a healthcare right.”
Key Vote Alert – HOUSE & SENATE – “NO” ON THE FASTER LABOR CONTRACTS ACT
June 5, 2026 // This bill borrows from the same compulsory-union playbook as the PRO Act and other failed Big Labor priorities. It strengthens union leverage, pressures employers to accept terms they may never voluntarily agree to, and invites federal intervention into private workplaces. The result would be less flexibility, higher costs, more litigation, and fewer opportunities for workers and businesses alike. Congress should reject this federal takeover of private-sector bargaining. Workers do not need politicians using “pro-worker” branding to deliver wins for union bosses. They need freedom, flexibility, and the right to negotiate, work, and prosper without being trapped in federally imposed labor contracts.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act Is a Backdoor for Union Leadership’s Political Agenda
May 28, 2026 // Here's what the FLCA's backers won't say out loud: mandatory arbitration doesn't just remove workers from the ratification process, it removes union leadership from the obligation to bargain in good faith. Why negotiate seriously when running out the clock gets you a government arbitrator who is far more likely to deliver the political contract provisions your members would have voted down? The FLCA doesn't just create a shortcut. It creates an incentive to stall.
Op-ed: The New Big Labor GOP
May 26, 2026 // The FLCA is a plank in the Big Labor PRO Act that failed to pass Congress in the Biden years. The bill is now likely to pass the House. The GOP Senate could kill it, but Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) is sponsoring the corresponding legislation there. The pro-union Republicans fancy themselves as tribunes for the common man, but they’re really rubber stamps for labor bosses who are allies of the Democratic Party.
Why Are Republicans Looking To Pass Obama-Era Forced Unionization Bill?
May 20, 2026 // Instead of contract bargaining, there would be “binding arbitration.” For 90 days, unions and employers would come to the table as normal and work toward an agreement. After that, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service could be called in to “mediate” the talks for an additional 30 days. If no agreement was reached, the agency gained the power to convene an arbitration panel that would write up a contract that bound both the union and the employer for two years. EFCA made unionization faster, but only by taking away checks that workers and employers had on union bosses. Today, unions are still pushing for the “binding arbitration” half of EFCA. It’s on the smorgasbord of provisions in the so-called PRO Act, a union-backed bill supported by all but a few congressional Democrats, and it’s central to the Faster Labor Contracts Act.
AFP Mobilizes Grassroots in Key Districts to Oppose the Faster Labor Contracts Act
May 18, 2026 // “This bill puts a 100-day stopwatch on one of the most consequential decisions a workplace ever makes — and then hands the final call to a stranger who has never set foot inside the building. That isn’t fairness, and it isn’t faster bargaining. It’s rushed bargaining, with an outside arbitrator deciding pay, schedules, and working conditions for people whose jobs and businesses they don’t know,” said Austen Bannan, labor policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity. “Workers deserve a contract they can actually live with — not one written under an artificial clock that benefits union leadership the moment the ink dries, because that’s when dues start flowing. AFP activists are showing up in Nebraska and Pennsylvania this week to tell Reps. Bacon, Bresnahan, and Fitzpatrick what real workers in their districts are saying: oppose this bill, and don’t sign the discharge petition,” Bannan continued.