I’ve spent much of my career advocating on behalf of Alaska’s small and independent business owners at all levels of government. While this sometimes meant championing specific policy proposals to help Alaskan businesses and their employees, I found that, frequently, the best thing government can do is step out of the way. Unfortunately, there is a new proposal in Washington that would do just the opposite; the Faster Labor Contracts Act would subject private workplace negotiations to tight, arbitrary deadlines and could force workers and employers into contracts they never agreed to.
As its title suggests, the Faster Labor Contracts Act is intended to artificially “speed up” contract negotiations between employers and unions. It would force employers to begin bargaining with a new union in just ten days. If no agreement is reached in 90 days, the government steps in and forces mediation. And then, after another 30 days, the dispute goes to binding arbitration. That last part is especially unsettling, because it means an outside arbitrator would dictate wages, benefits, and workplace rules, and that workers could find themselves bound by contracts they never voted on. That would hurt employees and businesses alike.
Under current law — which has been in place for almost a century — employers and unions are required to bargain in good faith, but neither side is forced to make concessions or agree to proposals. That’s the way it should be. Labor negotiations are incredibly complicated and require time and attention to detail. Rushing the process can have disastrous consequences for workers and their employers.
Americans from all walks of life oppose this kind of heavy-handed government intervention into labor contract negotiations. A recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey found that a vast majority of voters oppose government-mandated union contracts without worker approval. Who can blame them? No outside arbitrator will ever understand the needs of workers and employers better than the people directly involved.
Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Alaska. Our businesses operate in unique conditions, often involving remote worksites, seasonal challenges, and high transportation costs. When Washington steps in to rush the negotiation process and dictate labor contract terms, these important nuances can easily be overlooked. Small and medium-sized employers don’t have teams of lawyers or federal lobbyists to navigate new rules that they might never have agreed to in the first place. Alaskans engaged in labor negotiations need ample time and flexibility, not Washington micromanagement.
Alaska’s workers and businesses deserve the right to make their own choices. This bill could force both sides to agree to unfavorable terms. That’s just wrong. The parties involved should have the chance to negotiate in good faith, on their own terms, without government deadlines or arbitration hovering over them. To me, that is common sense.
“Faster labor contracts” is just another way of saying “rushed labor contracts”; nobody wants that, and yet some in D.C. want to make it the law of the land.
I hope that our Alaskan Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C. will oppose this misguided legislation. Whatever its sponsors’ intentions might be, its consequences would be disastrous. The Faster Labor Contracts Act is bad for workers, bad for businesses, and bad for Alaska.
Dennis DeWitt is a former Alaska State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and served in the administrations of Governors Hickel, Murkowski, and Palin and President Reagan.
