Posts tagged binding arbitration
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.
How the Faster Labor Contracts Act could hurt workers
May 7, 2026 // Contracts can take a long time to negotiate because one or both sides are new to the process, have unreasonable demands, and are negotiating complex terms that will affect all future contracts. It’s not uncommon for collective bargaining agreements to address dozens of workplace provisions (well beyond just pay and benefits) and to span hundreds of pages. A Bloomberg Law analysis of first contracts reached between 2004 and 2021 found an average length of 409 days between election certification and contract ratification. The Faster Labor Contracts Act would provide a maximum bargaining period of 120 days — 90 days of bargaining followed by 30 days of mediation — before either party could invoke mandatory arbitration.
Unions push back against Spanberger’s collective bargaining changes
April 23, 2026 // Spanberger’s term in office ends in 2030, around the time local government employees would be allowed into the terms of the bill. She defended the correlation between the two, pointing out Virginia’s unique rule limiting governors to one consecutive term. “But that doesn’t mean that just because I only have four years as governor that I need to rush things much, much faster,” Spanberger said. “It is about being methodical.”
Commentary: Congress is about to undo DOGE’s biggest win
April 13, 2026 // That corrupt flow of campaign cash into Congress’s coffers is ultimately why, instead of being eliminated by DOGE, the FMCS is on track to be given a whole new set of powers. New Jersey Democrat Donald Norcross recently filed a discharge petition on the Faster Labor Contracts Act. The petition will force the House to vote on the bill once it reaches 218 signatures. The bill can easily hit that target if all 214 House Democrats sign the petition, along with any four of the bill’s 17 Republican cosponsors. Understanding a politician’s real priorities often requires zooming into these quiet battles over little-known agencies.
No Rail Strike This Time
March 23, 2026 // But there are other reasons as well for the clear tracks for this deal. The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), which negotiates on behalf of the railroads with the 12 main rail worker unions, said that the latest bargaining round “has seen historic collaboration between freight rail carriers and unions.” “Historic” could be a small stretch, but it does appear that both union negotiators and management went into this round determined to strike a bargain that workers and railroads could live with. In addition to money, both unions and management have touted better benefits and more paid leave.