# H.R. 5408 (119th): Faster Labor Contracts Act

Faster Labor Contracts Act This bill establishes mandatory deadlines for parties negotiating an initial collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and provides for mediation and arbitration to finalize CBAs. Under the bill, CBA negotiations must begin within 10 days after an employer receives a written request from a newly recognized or certified bargaining representative. The bill provides that parties must make every reasonable effort to conclude and sign a CBA. Further, the bill provides that, if the parties have not reached an agreement after 90 days, either party may request mediation by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). The bill directs FMCS to use its best efforts to secure an agreement. If mediation does not result in an agreement within 30 days (or an additional period agreed to by both parties), FMSC must refer the parties to an arbitration panel to render a decision settling the dispute. The panel must consider specified factors, including the employer's financial prospects and employees' cost of living. The resulting CBA is binding on the parties for two years. (Parties may agree to amend the terms during the two-year period.) The bill specifies that (1) an employer must maintain current wages, hours, terms, and conditions of employment during negotiations; and (2) an employer's duty to collectively bargain continues even if a representative has been decertified. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress regarding the average number of days between the certification or recognition of a bargaining representative and the date the initial CBA was executed.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: collective_bargaining. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: economic_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: justice. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: labor. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 216: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure combines a plausible good, timely good-faith bargaining for workers who have newly organized, with real prudential concerns: government-directed mediation and binding arbitration may override private bargaining and impose terms on employers. It does not directly advance a named moral evil, nor does it plainly restrain one, so it falls under the mixed category for ordinary economic policy.
Theological note: The bill bears on the Christian concern for just wages, fair dealing between employer and worker, and the lawful freedom of association, as well as the proper limits of civil authority in economic life. Scripture honors honest labor and fair pay, and general equity asks whether both workers and employers are treated justly. Government-imposed arbitration and binding terms raise questions of prudence and the proper scope of state power over private contracts, but these are matters for careful judgment rather than clear moral verdicts on the bill's face.

## Recorded votes

Roll 216: On Passage. Yea 230 · Nay 193 · Other 7.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-5408-119/