“A bill to accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National Labor Relations Act.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings concerning U.S. employees' rights to organize collectively for higher wages and benefits; protracted delays in negotiating first collective bargaining agreements following a vote for union representation (averaging 465 days per a 2021 Bloomberg Law study, with delays increasing over time); the benefits of such delays to employers opposed to unionization; and the need for federal labor law to facilitate prompt first contracts.
This section revises the duty to bargain collectively under subsection (d) of Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) (i.e., requiring parties to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment). Specifically, it (1) requires employers to maintain current wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment pending an agreement; (2) provides that an employer’s duty to bargain continues absent decertification of the representative following an election under NLRA Section 9; and (3) for initial collective bargaining agreements following certification or recognition of a representative under NLRA Section 9(a), establishes procedures requiring the parties to begin bargaining within 10 days (or agreed further period) of a written request and make every reasonable effort to conclude an agreement, followed by Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service mediation if no agreement after 90 days (or agreed additional period) from bargaining commencement, and referral to binding arbitration by a 3-person panel (one selected by each party within 14 days and one neutral, or designated by the Service if not selected) if no agreement after 30 days (or agreed additional period) from the mediation request, with the panel’s decision (based on specified factors including employer finances, employee cost of living, and comparable wages) binding for two years unless amended by mutual written consent. (As background, the NLRA generally protects private-sector employees’ rights to organize and bargain collectively; these changes impose mandatory timelines and arbitration to expedite first contracts after union certification.)
This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress, not later than one year after enactment, a report examining the average number of days between (1) certification or recognition of an individual or labor organization as the exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit under section 9(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 159(a)) following enactment and (2) execution of the parties' initial collective bargaining agreement.