Providing for Consideration of H.R. Faster Labor Contracts Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5408, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which ensures that workers can quickly and efficiently reach a first contract between a union and their employer.

It is also one of the many important provisions of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or the PRO Act, which critically bolsters working people's ability to organize and form a union while holding union-busting employers accountable.

This bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to require employers to begin negotiations with a newly certified union within 10 days. This bill further provides that if no agreement is reached after 90 days, either party may request mediation from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. If mediation fails after 30 days, the dispute will be referred to an arbitration panel selected by the union and employer to secure an initial contract.

For too many workers, the hard work doesn't end when they vote to form a union. It just begins. Reaching a first contract to form a union can take months, even years. In some cases, it never happens at all. It is not unusual for workers to sit through endless delays and other dilatory tactics by employers, including shifting proposals and stalled negotiations. Workers endure all of this while trying to balance their jobs, their families, and their livelihoods.

When workers choose to organize, they are choosing a unified voice to negotiate for their rights with management. Without a first contract, that voice can be effectively silenced. Dragging out negotiations gives corporations a long chance to break up a union.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act brings accountability to this process. It sets up reasonable timelines and ensures that both sides engage in serious, good-faith negotiations. It helps prevent delay tactics and keeps the focus where it belongs--on reaching an agreement that works for everyone.

This bill is about making the right to organize real, not theoretical.

I include in the Record a letter from the American Federation of Teachers. AFT, Washington DC, June 9, 2026. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the AFT's more than 1.8 million members working in education, healthcare and public services, I write to strongly encourage you to vote yes on the Faster Labor Contracts Act (H.R. 5408).

We believe that workers, no matter where they work, whether in the private sector or the public sector, deserve labor laws that meaningfully protect them and preserve their ability to join a union and collectively bargain. While the majority of AFT members work in the public sector, the AFT is the second-largest nurses' union in the country and represents more than 75,000 educators in charter schools who are considered private sector employees.

For many years, we have strongly supported the robust and comprehensive labor law reforms in both the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and we have urged Congress to pass both bills. The National Labor Relations Act, originally enacted in 1935, has never significantly been reformed; the need to do so is undeniable. As unionization rates across the U.S. economy have declined, from over 30 percent in 1954 to 11 percent in 2024, our country has seen income inequality skyrocket. A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that more than 60 million Americans would join a union if given the choice. Yet, despite the popularity of unions, too many workers face insurmountable barriers when trying to organize a union, a direct result of the failure to reform American labor laws. Workers trying to form a union are faced with firings, harassment and captive audience meetings. And if workers prevail and the majority vote to form a union, many employers simply refuse to bargain a first contract. The Faster Labor Contracts Act would require employers to bargain a first collective bargaining agreement in good faith. If no agreement is reached after three months, the employer and the union would enter mediation, and if mediation fails within 30 days, they move to binding arbitration.

Absent congressional action on the PRO Act or PSFNA in the short term, we believe that individual provisions of either bill that have bipartisan support, such as the Faster Labor Contracts Act, should move forward.

For this reason, we call on all members of the House to vote for the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act (H.R. 5408). It is far from being a complete set of labor reforms, but it is an incredibly important step in the right direction.

Unions enable working people to have a voice on the job and the power to act collectively. Whether it is a decent wage or safety on the job, workers have a better shot at better working conditions when they can form a union and collectively bargain. By standing together, union members earn higher wages and are more likely to have employer- provided healthcare, pensions and benefits such as paid sick and family leave. Data shows that the average median union worker is paid approximately 20 percent more than the median nonunion worker.

Under current law, for far too many workers, including many who seek to join the AFT, organizing a union is marked by employer anti-union campaigns that include pressure tactics and a refusal to negotiate a first contract after workers have voted to unionize.

Over the last few years, healthcare professionals organizing the AFT in Oregon have encountered yearslong delays from their employer when they tried to bargain a first contract in good faith. In K-12 charter schools, we have repeatedly experienced employers who, in the face of resounding pro-union elections, turn their energies toward wearing down a new union by refusing to negotiate a first contract. We have seen an unwillingness to come to the bargaining table in Arizona, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Yearslong delays or outright refusals to bargain are meant to send a message to workers that their voice and their vote do not matter and that there is no point in forming a union.

We believe that ultimately the package of reforms contained in both the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act are critical for working families in this country and their communities, and we will continue to fight for these reforms. However, we recognize that progress is often achieved in incremental steps; making progress in one area while continuing to organize and work for additional gains in other areas is often how meaningful change is achieved.

All workers, no matter where they are employed, deserve a voice on the job and should have the freedom to join together and bargain with their employer. We look forward to working with lawmakers, no matter their political party, to advance labor law reforms for all workers. Sincerely, Randi Weingarten, President, AFT.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. The letter says, in part: ``For this reason, we call on all Members of the House to vote for the bipartisan Faster Labor Contracts Act. Hoyle).

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, could you advise how much time is remaining on both sides.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, could you say that again.

Mr. Speaker, when workers vote to form a union, they don't want their first contract to come in years after endless stalling by an employer negotiating in bad faith. They want a voice in the workplace.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act helps prevent these delay tactics and smooths the transition to an organized workplace. As the saying goes, forming a union should be a right, not a fight.

This legislation is an important first step toward ensuring that workers can more easily form a union and negotiate for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. Unions are critical to leveling the playing field and addressing rising economic inequality. This bill will help achieve these goals, but we cannot stop here. We must also pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the PRO Act, to comprehensively advance workers' rights.

For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 230, nays 193, not voting 7, as follows: [Roll No. 216] YEAS--230 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Bacon Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Bresnahan Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carey Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Davis (NC) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dexter Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Fields Figures Fitzpatrick Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garbarino Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Gimenez Golden (ME) Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V. Goodlander Gottheimer Gray Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Joyce (OH) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Krishnamoorthi LaLota Landsman Langworthy Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lawler Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Leger Fernandez Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Malliotakis Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Mejia Menefee Menendez Meng Mfume Miller (OH) Min Moore (WI) Moore (WV) Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Nadler Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Perez Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Rulli Ryan Salazar Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stauber Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Turner (OH) Underwood Van Drew Van Orden Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NAYS--193 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Davidson De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Fuller Gill (TX) Goldman (TX) Gooden Gosar Graves Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) James Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (PA) Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood Latta Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mackenzie Maloy Mann Massie Mast McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rutherford Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smucker Spartz Stefanik Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Valadao Van Duyne Van Epps Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NOT VOTING--7 Carter (GA) Dunn (FL) Kean Khanna Mace McDonald Rivet Norman

Messrs. SMUCKER, WITTMAN, FITZGERALD, COMER, and RUTHERFORD changed their vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''

Mr. MEEKS changed his vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''

So the bill was passed.

The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.

A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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