Posts tagged PRO Act
These Republicans keep undermining Trump. This week proves it
June 11, 2026 // Specifically, the Faster Labor Contracts Act would empower a federal agency that Trump has called to eliminate. It could then impose a collective bargaining agreement on workers if the union and employer don’t reach an agreement within three months. But the workers wouldn’t even get a vote, fundamentally gutting workplace democracy. As Trump’s administration said in 2020, “Involuntary contracts that do not work for employees or their employers could force layoffs or even bankruptcies — ultimately, harming workers.” This bill is one of the Democrats’ top priorities. It should never be a priority for any Republican. Several of these Republicans pulled a similar stunt in January, when they killed House leadership’s plan to vote on the Save Local Business Act. The bill would have prevented a heavy-handed mandate from the Obama and Biden years that put many franchises, subcontractors, and small businesses at risk of layoffs or even closure. Yet LaLota said that he and his colleagues would only support a watered-down version. Trump has proposed a regulation that’s similar in intent to the legislation that was killed, yet by refusing to support the bill, these Republicans are all but ensuring that a future Democrat president will overturn this necessary reform.
Nothing Pro-Worker About the Faster Labor Contracts Act, AFP Urges the Senate to Vote NO
June 10, 2026 // “There is nothing pro-worker about a system that allows third-party arbiters to unilaterally impose contract terms on both employees and employers. At its core, this approach weakens individual choice, reduces workplace flexibility, and risks entrenching one-size-fits-all outcomes that do not reflect the needs of workers, businesses, or local economies.
Jonathon Wolfson: Testimony before the House Committee on Education and Workforce
June 10, 2026 // In short, locum tenens is not a temporary patch on a permanent problem; it is a permanent and growing part of the healthcare access solution. In many areas, the choice is not between a permanent healthcare provider and a locum tenens healthcare provider. The choice is between a locum tenens healthcare provider and no provider at all. Any policy that undermines locum tenens would directly harm the patients who depend on it.
Faster Labor Contracts Act passes House after GOP rebels join Democrats
June 10, 2026 // The bill, though, exposed a trend of more populist Republicans bucking House leadership and free-market conservative groups that had been traditional allies of the GOP. Steven Bernstein, co-chair of the Fisher Phillips law firm’s labor relations practice group, said in a statement ahead of the vote that the legislation if enacted would “lead to a sea change in the country’s well-established labor dynamic by taking away the rights of employers and unions to decide for themselves what goes into their initial collective bargaining agreements.”
Why Would Any Republican Support Forced Unionism?
June 9, 2026 // What makes this even more shocking is that President Trump has proposed completely eliminating the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which the bill would supercharge. The president understands that contracts imposed by government bureaucrats are more likely to be based on political than economic logic, and that negotiations are better left to the private parties. Ironically, government-imposed contracts are likely to harm the workers whose union bosses are pushing this idea. Because when economics don’t add up, it’s the workers who pay in layoffs, reduced hours and the diversion of capital investments that would have raised productivity. This risks broader economic disruption by creating a threat perception that, at any time, a single union request could trigger a government-enforced contract clock. That perception would tend to chill hiring and investing, especially by smaller businesses that can’t afford to fight out an arbitration battle.
Workers for Opportunity joins the fight against the Faster Labor Contracts Act
June 8, 2026 // Vincent Vernuccio, a senior fellow with Workers for Opportunity and president of Institute for the American Worker, recently recapped a Senate hearing where he testified. An unwitting union official opposed the Faster Labor Contracts Act idea of forced arbitration. Vernuccio wrote: [U.S. Senator and Chair of the federal labor committee Sen. Bill] Cassidy explained this policy in real-world terms, saying that it would “take workers out of the process by removing the need to ratify a contract.” He put a finer point on it by saying that if the government mandated arbitration, workers “cannot reject” the resulting agreement, even though it would be binding on them. “What would happen,” he asked, “if workers lost that ability to ratify a contract?” The union official didn’t mince words: “That would be removing the democracy from the workplace.” Then he doubled down: Such democracy “is the whole point of the union,” he said, because it gives workers “a say.”
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.
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.
Op-ed: The right’s growing crackup over organized labor
May 14, 2026 // In the face of its growing crackup over organized labor, the Right is badly in need of developing a labor policy that is pro-worker without being pro-union. The best bet would be to coalesce around a flexible work agenda that empowers workers to achieve autonomy and agency in their employment arrangements. This policy agenda could take many different forms, but it might include championing the independent contracting status of gig workers while simultaneously expanding so-called portable benefit models that provide these workers with funds to access workplace benefits. This provides a more nimble, nuanced alternative to reclassifying them as employees or unionizing them. Or right-leaning politicians could seek to address issues like just-in-time scheduling, a common sore spot for workers in many industries, by striking a grand bargain with the business community regarding overtime averaging. By focusing on flexibility rather than cribbing the union political playbook, the Right can take a pro-worker stance without needing to fully repudiate its pro-business instincts.