Hurry Up And Bargain: Faster Labor Contracts Act Introduced In The House With Some Republican Support

Originally introduced in the Senate in March 2025, Representative Donald Norcross (D-NJ) introduced the Faster Labor Contracts Act ("FLCA") to the House of Representatives on September 16, 2025. The FLCA seeks to hasten the bargaining of first collective bargaining agreements. According to the Proposed Bill, average number of days for bargaining a first contract were well over a year — 465 days. The FLCA is identical to the first contract mediation and arbitration provision of the Protecting the Right to Organize ACT ("PRO Act"). However, importantly, where the PRO Act had no Republican support in the Senate and limited support in the House, the FLCA has two Republican sponsors in the Senate and twelve in the House.

Current Status of Bargaining. Currently, although employers and unions have a duty to bargain in good faith under the National Labor Relations Act, there are no established bargaining timeframes or mandatory mediation or arbitration for bargaining private industry contracts. Employers and unions can, and have, bargained for literal years to reach agreement; others never reach agreement despite employees having properly elected to form or join a union.

What does the FLCA Do? The FLCA seeks to mandate time limits for bargaining stages.

• First, the employer must hold a first bargaining session within ten (10) days after receiving a written request for bargaining from a bargaining representative.
• Second, either party may request mediation from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service ("FMCS") after ninety (90) days of bargaining.
• Lastly, thirty (30) days after the request for mediation, FMCS must refer the dispute to a three-person arbitration panel with one member determined by each party and a third by mutual agreement (or by FMCS if agreement cannot be reached). A majority decision of the arbitration panel then renders a decision binding the parties to arbitrator-determined terms and conditions of employment for a period of two years.

*The parties can extend any of the established time periods or modify the arbitration-determined contract by mutual agreement.

A Sign of Bipartisan Support of Unions and Workers? Some Early Hope for a Bipartisan Bill? Like the PRO Act, the Democratic party and many unions, including the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO, have strongly supported the proposed legislation while Republican politicians and business organizations have largely opposed the bill. However, some Republicans — notably Senator Hawley — have supported the FLCA. Unlike the PRO Act, the FLCA can claim some bipartisan momentum.Senator Hawley's cosponsoring of the bill is especially notable as a Republican who is usually aligned with business interests against organized labor. Indeed, Senator Hawley has made statements relaying his pro-worker stance on this matter: "[W]orkers are often prevented from enjoying the benefits of the union they voted to form when mega-corporations drag their feet, slow-walk contract negotiations, and try to erode support for the union. It's wrong. We need real labor reform that puts workers first. I'm proud to introduce bipartisan and Teamsters-endorsed legislation that does just that."

Both the Senate bill and its House companion are currently in committee for review. Passage of the law would fundamentally alter labor-management negotiations, so stay tuned for updates.

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