Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Tuesday introduced the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which would amend the National Labor Relations Act to reduce the time between unionization and negotiation to 10 days.
“Despite exercising their legal — and moral — right to bargain collectively, workers are often prevented from enjoying the benefits of the union they voted to form when mega-corporations drag their feet, slow-walk contract negotiations, and try to erode support for the union,” Hawley said in a statement.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., speaks alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., during a news conference following the weekly Senate Democrats policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
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Under the Faster Labor Contracts Act, if no agreement is met in 90 days, the dispute would be taken to mediation. If that fails within 30 days or another agreed-upon window of time, the dispute then goes to arbitration.
Co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Gary Peters, D-Mich. Within Hawley’s own party, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is also co-sponsoring the bill.
“Americans deserve fair wages, safe workplaces, and good benefits in exchange for their hard work — and forming a union helps workers fight for fairness in their workplace,” Booker said in his statement. “Workers who vote to join a union have the right to form that union quickly, instead of facing years of delays from big corporations.”
Meanwhile, business groups have largely condemned Hawley’s bill.
“For 90 years, the National Labor Relations Act has survived these self-serving coups for one reason alone: It works. Everyone has a seat at the table, including American workers,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear on Tuesday.
Associated Builders and Contractors said the act is “the worst provision of [Hawley’s pro-labor] framework.” In early February, ABC’s Coalition for A Democratic Workplace condemned Hawley’s labor policies, saying they “mirror” elements of the often reintroduced Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
While time will only tell which fellow Republicans seek to pass the bill, a trend is emerging in 2025 that may mark a new chapter for the party in the 21st century.
“The status quo hurts workers,” Hawley said on Tuesday.
On labor, a shift in historical tone
President Gerald Ford (left) listens as future President Ronald Reagan delivers a speech during the closing session of the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Mo. on Aug. 19, 1976.
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By current metrics, liberals outpace conservatives when it comes to union support. Per Pew Research center:
- Of Republicans or voters who lean Republican, 35% believe unions “have a positive impact on the country.”
- Among more conservative Republicans, that number is 26%.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, Democrats or voters who lean Democrat largely believe that unions have a positive impact: 75% said as much.
- More liberal Democrats believe so even more at 86%.
A party turning point came during former President Ronald Reagan’s administration, according to many labor historians.
Not only did Reagan fire the 11,000 striking federal workers of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, thereby setting a tone in 1981, but the National Labor Relations Board under Reagan also sought to narrow workers’ rights throughout his administration.
When President Donald Trump tapped Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his nominee for Department of Labor secretary, little was known about the one-time congressperson from Oregon — except for her initial support for the PRO Act.
Chavez-DeRemer was an anomaly: Whereas 210 Democrats co-sponsored the PRO Act, only three Republicans did.
Not only did the AFL-CIO indicate that Chavez-DeRemer’s nomination boded well for labor, but the Teamsters also endorsed the DOL secretary pick.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump for putting American workers first by nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for US Labor Secretary. Nearly a year ago, you joined us for a @Teamsters roundtable and pledged to listen to workers and find common ground to protect and respect labor in… pic.twitter.com/C6jZw1PqkB
— Sean M. O’Brien (@TeamsterSOB) November 23, 2024
Likewise, when Keith Sonderling was nominated for the deputy secretary position, Trump remarked on Truth Social that Sonderling and Chavez-DeRemer together would “put our Country and Workers FIRST.”
A change in status quo may be on the horizon
At her confirmation hearing, Chavez-DeRemer attempted to soften her labor track record: she stepped back from the PRO Act after being bombarded with questions from both sides of the aisle. One of the Republicans present was Hawley, a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Remarking on the 2024 election, a labor journalist penned an op-ed for The Guardian last summer voicing his opinion that Trump and the Republican party would never warm up to labor interests, despite the optics of union support.
President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien (R) attends the confirmation hearing for Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Labor Department, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Like many aspects of Trump’s second administration — and arguably any administration in its first 100 days — a definitive answer remains to be seen.
HR Dive reached out to Hawley and did not hear back by the time of publication. Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters, said in a statement Tuesday that the Faster Labor Contracts Act would “[force] employers to bargain in good faith and [hold] them accountable when they don’t.”
Regarding the bill being introduced at this particular time in history, a Teamsters spokesperson told HR Dive, “When it comes to standing up for workers and making sure they can secure a fair contract, the time is always right. We are proud to support this bipartisan legislation.”