The bill got support from 20 House Republicans but none were from Virginia.
All five Virginia Republicans in the US House of Representatives voted against a bipartisan bill aimed at helping workers and employers reach timely agreements when negotiating a first union contract.
All six House Democrats from Virginia supported the legislation, which also got support from 20 House Republicans. The bill, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, passed in a vote of 230-193 on Tuesday and is now with the Senate.
The bill would put a set timeline on negotiations over a first contract after workers organize themselves into a new union. The National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to form unions and collectively bargain, but it does not require employers to agree to a first union contract within a set time.
As a result, it’s common for employers, big and small, to drag negotiations out over months and sometimes years. Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York, voted to form their union in 2021, which led to Starbucks workers in Virginia and other states around the country voting to unionize. But today, these unionized workers are still waiting for Starbucks to agree to a first union contract.
In Richmond, more than 60 workers at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden voted to unionize in 2024 with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union). But they are still fighting for a union contract and their frustrations with the garden’s management has them ready to strike if necessary.
According to a 2022 Bloomberg Law analysis—inspired in part by a comment made by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)—it took employers and newly unionized workers an average of 465 days to agree on a first contract.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act would require employers to move much faster than they are now.
Employers would have to start negotiating with the new union within 10 days of it forming. If they can’t agree on a first union contract in 90 days, either side can ask a federal mediator to step in to help them reach an agreement. If they fail to agree to a contract in mediation in 30 days, their dispute would go before an arbitration panel that would issue a binding decision that would apply for two years, unless the company and the union decide otherwise.
In an interview with Dogwood, Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) said she voted yes on the bill because unionized workers shouldn’t have to wait years to get a contract. She called the legislation one of the stronger pro-worker and pro-union bills to pass in the House in a long time.
McClellan noted that the bill only moved forward with a vote because some House Republicans helped Democrats force one to happen using a procedural move called a discharge petition.
“From the Republican perspective, the ones that I’ve talked to say, ‘You know, once somebody votes to unionize, they need a contract, they need certainty, and it’s a matter of fairness,’” McClellan said.
The bill is now with the Senate where it has some Republican support, but it’s unclear if it will pass.
Asked by Dogwood on Thursday about the Faster Labor Contracts Act, US Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on a press call he was still learning about the legislation but that it sounded like a “pretty darn good bill.”
