Steve Kruzel Provides Insight in SHRM Article on Faster Labor Contracts Act
Steve Kruzel, a Milwaukee-based partner in Quarles & Brady’s Labor & Employment Practice Group, provided insight for a SHRM article on the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a labor reform bill that would amend the National Labor Relations Act to shorten collective bargaining contract negotiations through mediation and arbitration.
He explains that proponents of the bill claim that employers frequently use tactics to delay entering into a collective bargaining agreement, weakening union support. If the bill is enacted, human resource professionals will need to prepare to negotiate at an expediated timeline. Kruzel also mentions that the primary critique of the law is that it would strip away negotiating dynamic in which employees ultimately vote on whether to ratify a contract.
An excerpt below:
Bill proponents contend that employers frequently use tactics to delay entering into a collective bargaining agreement, said Steve Kruzel, an attorney with Quarles in Milwaukee. They maintain that these delays weaken union support and effectively deny employees the benefits they voted for by electing the union, he added.
“If enacted, HR professionals need to be prepared to negotiate at an expedited timeline and advise their business counterparts of the same,” he said.
Concerns About the Bill
The primary critique of the law is that it would strip away the traditional negotiating dynamic in which employees ultimately vote on whether to ratify a contract, Kruzel said.
The law would impose the following mandatory negotiation timeline, he explained:
- Employers would have to hold a first bargaining session within 10 days after receiving a written request for bargaining from a newly elected union.
- Either party would be able to request mediation from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) after 90 days of bargaining.
- Finally, if the parties have not reached an agreement by no later than 30 days after the request for mediation, and absent an agreed-upon extension by the parties, the FMCS would have to refer the dispute to a three-person arbitration panel. Following arbitration, the panel would issue a decision binding the parties to terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement for two years. This provision of the legislation is referred to as the “First Contract Arbitration” provision.
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While time limits would be imposed on negotiations under the legislation, the arbitration timeline itself would be unlimited, Kruzel explained. “It could take months — if not years — for an arbitration panel to issue a decision regarding terms, particularly if the arbitrators make the effort to understand a company’s finances, market, and operational structure,” he said.