‘The Big Money Show’ panelists weigh in on the Teamster’s latest move to pour money into the Republican Party.
President of the Teamsters union Sean O’Brien Testifying before a Senate committee on Wednesday, he appreciated Republican lawmakers’ efforts to reach out to unions and work with them on legislation.
O’Brien testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) at the invitation of Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., to discuss proposals for reform of labor laws.
“I’m encouraged to be invited here as a guest of the Republican majority, which is a positive change,” O’Brien said.
“As long as I have been a Teamster, neither party has led the effort to reach a bipartisan agreement on labor reform,” he explained. “The Democrats have played political football with massive labor reform bills. The Republicans have largely reintroduced business-friendly bills that make it harder to form a union.”
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Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said the Republican Party’s new openness to unions is a positive development. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“I don’t like to waste time. I was elected to get things done for the everyday Teamsters, to find solutions and not dwell on problems or the past. Everyone in this room was elected the same way to produce for your own constituents,” he added.
O’Brien said this is his third time testifying before the Senate HELP Committee and that neither the panel’s Democratic nor Republican leaders were successful in promoting solutions to what he called “our nation’s weak, unenforceable labor laws.”
“When I took office, I directed the Legislative Branch of the Teamsters Union to confront their own partisan biases. As a result, our union has found new allies on both sides of the aisle,” O’Brien said, pointing to Senator John Smith. Josh HawleyR-Mo., as a leader in these efforts.
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Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, introduced the Faster Labor Contracts Act. (Pete Kiehart/Getty Images)
O’Brien said there is “a realignment around labor within the… Republican Party. The Teamsters union wants to encourage that by offering multiple avenues to support our members, not a single legislative litmus test.”
As an example of that realignment and the renewed bipartisanship on labor issues, O’Brien pointed to a bipartisan bill introduced by Hawley with Sens in March. Cory BoekerDN.J.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio; and Gary Peters, D-Mich. Four additional Democratic senators have since signed on as co-sponsors.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act would change the law National Labor Relations Act to require that employers must begin bargaining with a newly formed union within ten days of the vote on employee unionization.
It would also refer the parties to binding arbitration if mediation fails within 30 days or additional periods agreed to by the union and employer, and refer disputes to mediation if an agreement is not reached within 90 days.
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“After workers vote to form their union, many employers delay negotiations on the original collective bargaining agreement. Nearly half of new unions fail to win a contract within a year of winning the election. After two years, a third have no contract,” O’Brien explains. “This bill ensures that an initial contract can be reached within months, not years.”
Sen. Rand PaulusR-Ky., spoke about concerns raised by another expert witness at the hearing that the Faster Labor Contracts Act would introduce red tape into negotiations between employers and a newly formed union.
Rachel Greszler, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said the complexity of collective bargaining agreements means that both unionized workers and the employer need ample time to consider their implications for the future of the company and its workforce.
“When you have a first contract, especially if you have a company that has never been involved in negotiations or a union, and it is the first time they represent employees, they need to understand all the issues,” she explained.
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She also said that contracts such as the The United Auto Workers union agreements with automakers such as Ford can run into thousands of pages when it comes to memoranda of understanding, with several hundred items covered by the negotiating agreement.
“These are too many issues for both employees and employers to consider in a 120-day period,” Greszler added.
