PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5408, FASTER LABOR CONTRACTS ACT

On 2026-06-09, Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-3) delivered a floor speech titled "PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5408, FASTER LABOR CONTRACTS ACT" in the House.

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5408, FASTER LABOR CONTRACTS ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 97 (Tuesday, June 9, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 9, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4029-H4037] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5408, FASTER LABOR CONTRACTS ACT The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the unfinished business is the vote on adoption of the resolution (H. Res. 1140) providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5408) to accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National Labor Relations Act, on which the yeas and nays were ordered. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution. This is a 5-minute vote. The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 221, nays 201, not voting 8, as follows: [Roll No. 215] YEAS--221 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Bacon Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Bresnahan Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Davis (NC) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dexter Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Fields Figures Fitzpatrick Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Golden (ME) Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V. Goodlander Gottheimer Gray Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Joyce (OH) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi LaLota Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lawler Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Leger Fernandez Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Mejia Menefee Menendez Meng Mfume Miller (OH) Min Moore (WI) Moore (WV) Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Mrvan Mullin Nadler Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Perez Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (NJ) Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Underwood Van Drew Van Orden Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NAYS--201 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Baird Balderson Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Davidson De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Fuller Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Goldman (TX) Gooden Gosar Graves Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) James Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (PA) Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood Langworthy Latta Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Massie McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smucker Spartz Stauber Stefanik Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Duyne Van Epps Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NOT VOTING--8 Barr Haridopolos Kean Mace Mast McDonald Rivet Moulton Norman {time} 1730 So the resolution was agreed to. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Moore of North Carolina). Pursuant to House Resolution 1140, the House will proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5408, which the Clerk will report by title. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1140, the bill is considered read. The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5408 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Faster Labor Contracts Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Employees in the United States have a right to organize collectively in order to secure higher wages and other benefits, and regularly exercise that right by voting to be represented by a labor organization in their workplaces. (2) A successful vote in favor of representation by a labor organization does not immediately lead to an agreement between the parties. Often the negotiation process is difficult and protracted, taking a year or longer. (3) Research indicates that these contracting delays are increasing over time. A Bloomberg Law study from 2021 found that the average number of days between a vote in favor of representation by a labor organization and a contract entered into between the parties was 465 days. (4) Delays in the processing of collective bargaining contracts primarily benefit employers opposed to representation by the labor organization. The employers can use those delays to sap labor organization resolve and secure more favorable terms for the employer. [[Page H4030]] (5) In order for employees in the United States to fully enjoy the benefits guaranteed to them by Federal labor law, those employees must be able to promptly secure a first contract following the legal recognition or certification of a labor organization, and Federal labor law ought to facilitate this expediency. SEC. 3. FACILITATING INITIAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS. Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158) is amended-- (1) in subsection (d)-- (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (4) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), respectively; (B) by striking ``For the purposes of this section'' and inserting ``(1) For the purposes of this section''; (C) by inserting ``(and to maintain current wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment pending an agreement)'' after ``arising thereunder''; (D) by inserting ``: Provided, That an employer's duty to collectively bargain shall continue absent decertification of the representative following an election conducted pursuant to section 9'' after ``making of a concession''; (E) by inserting ``further'' before ``, That where there is in effect''; (F) by striking ``The duties imposed'' and inserting ``(2) The duties imposed''; (G) by striking ``by paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)'' and inserting ``by subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1)''; (H) by striking ``section 8(d)(1)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(A)''; (I) by striking ``section 8(d)(3)'' each place it appears and inserting ``paragraph (1)(C)''; (J) by striking ``section 8(d)(4)'' and inserting ``paragraph (1)(D)''; and (K) by adding at the end the following: ``(3) Whenever collective bargaining is for the purpose of establishing an initial collective bargaining agreement following certification or recognition of an individual or labor organization as a representative as provided under section 9(a), the following shall apply: ``(A) Not later than 10 days after receiving a written request for collective bargaining from an individual or labor organization that has been newly recognized or certified as a representative as provided under section 9(a), or within such further period as the parties agree upon, the parties shall meet and begin bargaining collectively, and shall make every reasonable effort to conclude and sign a collective bargaining agreement. ``(B) If after the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date on which bargaining is commenced, or such additional period as the parties may agree upon, the parties have failed to reach an agreement, either party may notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service that a dispute exists, and may request mediation. Whenever such a request is received, the Service shall promptly communicate with the parties and use its best efforts, by mediation and conciliation, to secure an agreement. ``(C) If after the expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the request for mediation is made under subparagraph (B), or such additional period as the parties may agree upon, the Service is not able to bring the parties to agreement by conciliation, the Service shall refer the dispute to a 3-person arbitration panel established in accordance with such regulations as may be prescribed by the Service, with one member selected by the individual or labor organization, one member selected by the employer, and one neutral member mutually agreed to by the parties. The individual or labor organization and the employer must each select the members of the 3-person arbitration panel within 14 days of the Service's referral; if the in

Referenced legislation: HRES1140, HRES1140, HR5408