The “Faster Labor Contract Act” follows a failed European agenda…
Why would a small cadre of Republicans join in with all the Democrats on Capitol Hill to force employment contracts upon private citizen workers and private sector companies, determined by government bureaucrats. Moreover, why would Republicans try to force American companies to follow the failed European model?
After all, the American jobs market has been humming, with sustained low unemployment rates and a trend of real wage increases that were accelerating materially before the interruption of the Iran War.
Meanwhile, Europe sputters.
Bigger picture, consider just how materially the United States outperforms the economy of the Continent. About twenty years ago, the economies of the U.S. and the Euro area were roughly equal in size. But since the Great Financial Crisis, America has soared ahead relative to Europe – and that outperformance has accelerated markedly in the recovery from the 2020 Covid panic.
From the Economist: “America’s outperformance…has become vast. And it is likely to last. The latest IMF forecasts show American growth besting the rest all the way to 2030 and beyond.” As a result, the U.S. economy is set to soon be twice the size of Europe’s, and pay for the same jobs is generally 40% higher in the States vs. Europe.
But despite this clear evidence of a superior U.S. economic model of labor market flexibility and success, 20 House Republicans joined a unanimous Democrat bloc voting for the misnamed “Faster Labor Contract Act” that will place a small panel of government bureaucrats in charge of private labor negotiations. That small cadre of squish Republicans includes many of the “usual suspects” who love to support Democrat agendas, such as Maria Elvira Salazar, who constantly pushes her so-called “Dignity Act” to force mass amnesty for illegal migrants.
Anytime the Democrats vote in lockstep and receive the collaboration of a tiny group of establishment DC insiders from the GOP side, Main Street America should be alarmed. In this case, they voted to force unions and management to hold fast-tracked negotiations when a company’s workforce decides to unionize. If a full labor agreement is not reached in just 90 days, then the process is turned over to a government panel of three mediators who will have the power to inflict a binding contract decision upon both the company and the workers.
The first major problem is the truncated time frame. Complex negotiations can take real time, covering myriad issues from pay to workplace safety to insurance coverage. Second, starting such a rushed clock steals away the agency of both employers and workers, especially since the decision rendered by this Washington panel will be final and compulsory.
Amazingly, this model is almost totally lifted from the European approach to unions and contracts. It is known as “sectoral” bargaining and has become a central reason why the European labor market remains stagnant and inflexible. It is not surprising, then, that Senator Bernie Sanders wrote an almost identical piece of legislation, which some Republicans now, inexplicably, support.
Right now, America races ahead in technology, innovation, and productivity precisely because our laws and culture generally defer to the decisions of the private sector to pursue growth and prosperity – for both workers and for owners/management.
Private sector unions have a key role to play in the American economy. In fact, many of us on the populist Right want private sector unions restored and reformed. Those unions have been stymied by far too much corruption and by political capture by leftist radical partisanship. But unlike public sector unions, which should not even exist, strong private sector unions can form a cornerstone of American economic vitality, with the right rules and policies.
But this Act would force a retreat in the American labor market. It is unfair to employers, especially small firms that lack the in-house resources to bargain over complicated issues in such abbreviated fashion. But the Act is also toxic to workers, who will be stripped of their ability to approve or decline a contract, once negotiated, as is currently their right.
Republicans like Senator Josh Hawley who advocate for this new law approach to labor issues from the right perspective. For far too long, our politicians have favored capital too egregiously over labor, giving rise to the broad populist movement and to the America First cause. Our movement prioritizes workers and pay for our citizens.
But this new gambit misses the mark, badly. The American labor market cannot follow failed European models – and private companies and citizens should not be subject to the arbitrary whims of a federal government bureaucracy on some artificially hastened stopwatch.
Steve Cortes is president of the League of American Workers and advisor to Catholic Vote. He directs political campaigns on media, polling, and Hispanic outreach, including Trump 2016/2020 and Vance 2022 US Senate. He is a former broadcaster for Fox News and CNN.
