Democrats are on the verge of a big victory for their allies in Big Labor with the help of a handful of populist Republicans. The Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA) is bad policy and terrible politics. In the name of speeding up the approval of a first labor contract between a union and employer, government is empowered to order the terms of a collective bargaining contract.
Democrats have hijacked the House of Representatives agenda by using a Discharge Petition to force a vote on the FLCA. Thanks to some Republicans signing the Democratic petition, this legislation will likely get a vote in the House soon with a super majority of opposition by Republicans who control the House. It shows the panic by some Republicans in swing districts that they have pushed a Democratic Party policy agenda item in an attempt to save their seat at the expense of good policy.
The policy is rooted in the noble goal of speeding up an initial agreement between employers and employees. But the cost is removing power from workers and shifting that power to union leaders and government bureaucrats. Removing workers right to vote on the terms and conditions of their own employment is bad policy. The legislation will give government power to force a business and its workers into a union contract without either party’s consent. The legislation was drafted for the purposes of giving union leadership even more power over workers.
The legislation mandates that if labor leaders and a business can’t come to an agreement in 90 days of negotiations plus 30 days of mediation, government can step in and decided for them without input from workers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce argues that “Big Labor and government can rush you into something you might not want, leaving you stuck with the consequences,” including “first contract arbitration, where the government can impose a contract” on workers and business without their approval. A government mandated agreement could impose workplace pay, benefits, and rules without any vote by union members.
This legislation is being pushed in the name of helping workers, yet it could be considered anti-worker because government bureaucrats will made decisions in place of union workers on terms of contracts. Americans for Tax Reform argues that this legislation “turns the collective bargaining process on its head: Rather than negotiating to reach a mutual agreement on a contract that works for both the business and the workers, the government will simply force contract terms onto both parties from the top down.” Both businesses and workers lose input if they don’t like the government-imposed agreement.
Small business is the engine of the American economy. Almost half of all American workers employed in the private sector are working for small businesses and employ over 60 million Americans. This legislation will threaten small businesses while imposing a far lesser impact on larger corporations. Government imposed large pension plans and other expenses will stifle the growth of small businesses and may send already struggling enterprises into bankruptcy. A government-imposed contract may force small businesses to hire less which clearly hurts workers who can’t get a job thanks to a bureaucrat imposed burdensome agreement.
Supporters argue that this dispute resolution mechanism is commonly used in labor and commercial arbitration. Daniel Kishi, a policy advisor at American Compass, argues that the process does not favor either side, yet it “simply ensures that bargaining can’t be stalled into irrelevance” and “would ensure that they actually do, and that the process results in a contract rather than a stalemate.” This ignores the fact that the actual contract may be a big problem for workers if they don’t like it.
The supporters on the right also argue that pandering to a piece of legislation championed by Big Labor and the whole Democratic Party will save Republican seats in Congress. Kishi further argues that “the Republican Party today draws its strength not from boardrooms and donor retreats, but from working-class Americans.” Working-class Americans voted for President Donald J. Trump and put Republicans in charge of Congress because they reject the anti-family, woke agenda of a far left that has captured the agenda of the Democratic Party.
Arguing that Republicans should adopt Democrat-lite policies to win over votes ignores the fact that voters can just vote for Democrats if they want big government and anti-business policies.
