MY TURN: Washington’s one-size labor law doesn’t fit Alaska
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Alaska is on the verge of something historic. Major energy and infrastructure projects are advancing across the state, the kind that will connect Alaska-produced resources to global markets and reshape our economy for a generation. They promise thousands of skilled jobs, billions in investment, and a meaningful contribution to America’s national energy security. Delivering on that promise will require complex construction in some of the most demanding conditions on earth, and labor agreements built to reflect the realities of working here.
A bill moving through Congress threatens to make that harder. The Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA), which just passed the House, would impose rigid federal timelines on first-contract labor negotiations. It is clear to me that the legislators who designed this timeline have no understanding of what it takes to build in Alaska.
Under the FLCA, if a newly organized employer and union haven’t reached a contract within 120 days, a three-person arbitration panel is brought in to decide terms. These arbitrators are not required to have knowledge of Alaska’s construction industry or any industry, for that matter, and yet they hold the power to set wages, benefits, and working conditions for two years. All of this without workers ever getting a chance to vote on the final contract.
Alaska’s construction industry doesn’t operate like a factory floor in the Lower 48. We work in extreme cold, in remote locations accessible only by air or ice road, and on compressed seasonal schedules driven by weather. Labor agreements here are especially complex because they must account for all of that. The FLCA’s 120-day clock starts ticking with no allowance for any of it, and that is a fundamental flaw in this legislation.
Forced arbitration doesn’t resolve disputes. It delays them and adds uncertainty to project timelines that are already difficult to manage. For the major energy and infrastructure projects Alaska is now positioned to advance, that uncertainty isn’t just an inconvenience. It could be catastrophic. America needs bold steps toward a more robust energy future, and shortsighted federal mandates stand in the way of that.
Alaska’s infrastructure needs are enormous and varied. Right now, road, port, broadband, energy, and resource development projects are underway across the state. All of it depends on a construction labor market flexible enough to meet the moment. The FLCA would insert a new federal process into every first-contract negotiation, stripping important decisions away from workers and their employers.
This bill also comes without a price tag. The FLCA never received a Congressional Budget Office score before passing the House. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the obscure agency that would administer all of this, would require significant expansion to handle the new caseload. President Trump has proposed eliminating that agency entirely in his FY2027 budget request. Congress is being asked to massively expand an agency the White House wants to abolish. That makes no sense.
Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski have been consistent champions of Alaska’s economic development and the workers who drive it. Both understand that what works in Washington doesn’t always translate to Alaska. I encourage Alaskans to oppose the FLCA and urge our senators to keep it from reaching the floor.
Alaska is ready to build. We don’t need Washington telling us how to negotiate the contracts that let us do it.
Alicia Maltby is the president and CEO of Associated Builders & Contractors of Alaska and was recently appointed by Governor Dunleavy to the Alaska Workforce Investment Board.
