II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 844
To accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National Labor Relations
Act.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH4, 2025
Mr. H
AWLEY(for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MORENO, and Mr.
M
ERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re-
ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National
Labor Relations Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faster Labor Con-4
tracts Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
(1) Employees in the United States have a 8
right to organize collectively in order to secure high-9
er wages and other benefits, and regularly exercise 10
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that right by voting to be represented by a labor or-1
ganization in their workplaces. 2
(2) A successful vote in favor of representation 3
by a labor organization does not immediately lead to 4
an agreement between the parties. Often the nego-5
tiation process is difficult and protracted, taking a 6
year or longer. 7
(3) Research indicates that these contracting 8
delays are increasing over time. A Bloomberg Law 9
study from 2021 found that the average number of 10
days between a vote in favor of representation by a 11
labor organization and a contract entered into be-12
tween the parties was 465 days. 13
(4) Delays in the processing of collective bar-14
gaining contracts primarily benefit employers op-15
posed to representation by the labor organization. 16
The employers can use those delays to sap labor or-17
ganization resolve and secure more favorable terms 18
for the employer. 19
(5) In order for employees in the United States 20
to fully enjoy the benefits guaranteed to them by 21
Federal labor law, those employees must be able to 22
promptly secure a first contract following the legal 23
recognition or certification of a labor organization, 24
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and Federal labor law ought to facilitate this expedi-1
ency. 2
SEC. 3. FACILITATING INITIAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING 3
AGREEMENTS. 4
Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 5
U.S.C. 158) is amended— 6
(1) in subsection (d)— 7
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 8
through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), 9
respectively; 10
(B) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this 11
section’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) For the purposes of 12
this section’’; 13
(C) by inserting ‘‘(and to maintain current 14
wages, hours, and terms and conditions of em-15
ployment pending an agreement)’’ after ‘‘aris-16
ing thereunder’’; 17
(D) by inserting ‘‘: Provided, That an em-18
ployer’s duty to collectively bargain shall con-19
tinue absent decertification of the representa-20
tive following an election conducted pursuant to 21
section 9’’ after ‘‘making of a concession’’; 22
(E) by inserting ‘‘further’’ before ‘‘, That 23
where there is in effect’’; 24
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(F) by striking ‘‘The duties imposed’’ and 1
inserting ‘‘(2) The duties imposed’’; 2
(G) by striking ‘‘by paragraphs (2), (3), 3
and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘by subparagraphs (B), 4
(C), and (D) of paragraph (1)’’; 5
(H) by striking ‘‘section 8(d)(1)’’ and in-6
serting ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’; 7
(I) by striking ‘‘section 8(d)(3)’’ each place 8
it appears and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(C)’’; 9
(J) by striking ‘‘section 8(d)(4)’’ and in-10
serting ‘‘paragraph (1)(D)’’; and 11
(K) by adding at the end the following: 12
‘‘(3) Whenever collective bargaining is for the pur-13
pose of establishing an initial collective bargaining agree-14
ment following certification or recognition of an individual 15
or labor organization as a representative as provided 16
under section 9(a), the following shall apply: 17
‘‘(A) Not later than 10 days after receiving a 18
written request for collective bargaining from an in-19
dividual or labor organization that has been newly 20
recognized or certified as a representative as pro-21
vided under section 9(a), or within such further pe-22
riod as the parties agree upon, the parties shall meet 23
and begin bargaining collectively, and shall make 24
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every reasonable effort to conclude and sign a collec-1
tive bargaining agreement. 2
‘‘(B) If after the expiration of the 90-day pe-3
riod beginning on the date on which bargaining is 4
commenced, or such additional period as the parties 5
may agree upon, the parties have failed to reach an 6
agreement, either party may notify the Federal Me-7
diation and Conciliation Service that a dispute ex-8
ists, and may request mediation. Whenever such a 9
request is received, the Service shall promptly com-10
municate with the parties and use its best efforts, by 11
mediation and conciliation, to secure an agreement. 12
‘‘(C) If after the expiration of the 30-day period 13
beginning on the date on which the request for me-14
diation is made under subparagraph (B), or such ad-15
ditional period as the parties may agree upon, the 16
Service is not able to bring the parties to agreement 17
by conciliation, the Service shall refer the dispute to 18
a 3-person arbitration panel established in accord-19
ance with such regulations as may be prescribed by 20
the Service, with one member selected by the indi-21
vidual or labor organization, one member selected by 22
the employer, and one neutral member mutually 23
agreed to by the parties. The individual or labor or-24
ganization and the employer must each select the 25
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members of the 3-person arbitration panel within 14 1
days of the Service’s referral; if the individual or 2
labor organization or the employer fail to do so, the 3
Service shall designate any members not selected by 4
the individual or labor organization or by the em-5
ployer. A majority of the 3-person arbitration panel 6
shall render a decision settling the dispute and such 7
decision shall be binding upon the parties for a pe-8
riod of 2 years, unless amended during such period 9
by written consent of the parties. Such decision shall 10
be based on— 11
‘‘(i) the employer’s financial status and 12
prospects; 13
‘‘(ii) the size and type of the employer’s 14
operations and business; 15
‘‘(iii) the employees’ cost of living; 16
‘‘(iv) the employees’ ability to sustain 17
themselves, their families, and their dependents 18
on the wages and benefits they earn from the 19
employer; and 20
‘‘(v) the wages and benefits other employ-21
ers in the same business provide their employ-22
ees.’’; and 23
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(2) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘clause (B) of 1
the last sentence of section 8(d) of this Act’’ and in-2
serting ‘‘subsection (d)(2)(B)’’. 3
SEC. 4. GAO REPORT EXAMINING AVERAGE WORKPLACE 4
TIME-TO-CONTRACT. 5
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 6
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 7
shall submit to Congress a report examining the average 8
number of days between— 9
(1) the date on which an individual or labor or-10
ganization is certified or recognized as the represent-11
ative of employees under section 9(a) of the National 12
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)), following 13
the date of enactment of this Act; and 14
(2) the date on which the parties enter into an 15
initial collective bargaining agreement. 16
Æ
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