Legislative and Judicial Updates Put Heightened Pressure on Labor Strategy

Key Highlights:

• First-Contract Timelines Advance in Congress: The U.S. House passed the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which seeks to impose strict timelines on employers and unions negotiating a first collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
• Potential Binding Arbitration: If enacted, the Faster Labor Contracts Act would allow either party to seek mediation after 90 days of bargaining and, if no CBA is reached after 30 additional days, refer the dispute to binding arbitration for a two-year first contract.
• Supreme Court Leaves Thryv Issue Unresolved: The U.S. Supreme Court denied Macy’s petition for certiorari challenging the NLRB’s use of expanded make-whole remedies under Thryv, Inc., leaving the existing circuit split unresolved.

Two recent developments, one legislative and one judicial, underscore the need for employers to approach union negotiations and NLRB litigation proactively. The House’s passage of the Faster Labor Contracts Act would, if enacted, accelerate first-contract bargaining and create a path to binding arbitration, while the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the Macy’s case leaves unresolved the scope of expanded NLRB make-whole remedies under the Board’s Thryv, Inc. decision. Together, these developments reinforce the importance of early bargaining preparation, careful documentation and strategic preservation of remedial objections.

New Legislative Pressure on First-Contract Bargaining

On June 9, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5408, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, by a 230-193 vote. The bill would amend the National Labor Relations Act to accelerate initial CBAs following union certification or recognition.

Under the bill, employers and newly certified or recognized unions would be required to begin bargaining within 10 days of a bargaining request. If the parties do not reach agreement within 90 days, either party may request mediation through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. If mediation does not produce an agreement within 30 days, the dispute would go to a three-member arbitration panel empowered to impose a binding two-year CBA.

The legislation is not law yet. A related Senate bill, S. 844, was introduced by Senator Josh Hawley and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Still, the House vote is notable because it reflects bipartisan support for a proposal that would substantially change the current first-contract bargaining framework and place significant and potentially unrealistic time pressures on initial bargaining. Based on current statistics, negotiating the first CBA takes, on average, over 15 months.

For employers, the practical issue is not only speed. The bill also creates a path for unresolved economic and noneconomic terms to be imposed by an arbitration panel. That possibility would place a premium on early bargaining preparation, including costing proposals, identifying operational constraints, developing comparability data and creating a clear record supporting the employer’s positions.

Supreme Court Declines to Review Macy’s Thryv Challenge

Separately, on June 15, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Macy’s petition for certiorari in Macy’s Inc. v. NLRB. Macy’s challenged, among other things, the NLRB’s authority to award expanded make-whole relief under Thryv, Inc., which allows compensation for “direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms” resulting from unfair labor practices.

As we discussed in a previous post, Thryv significantly expanded potential unfair labor practice exposure beyond traditional backpay and reinstatement remedies. Appellate courts have disagreed over whether the Board exceeded its statutory authority in adopting that remedy.

The denial of certiorari does not resolve that split or endorse Thryv on the merits. It simply leaves the Ninth Circuit’s Macy’s decision in place while other circuits continue to reject or limit similar relief.

Why It Matters

Together, these developments reinforce the importance of front-end labor strategy. Employers should be prepared to bargain promptly after certification or recognition, avoid avoidable delay, maintain a disciplined bargaining record and assess unfair labor practice risk before acting during negotiations, strikes, lockouts or reinstatement disputes.

Employers facing union organizing, first-contract negotiations or NLRB proceedings should consult with an experienced member of Polsinelli’s Management-Labor Relations Practice Group to assess bargaining strategy, litigation risk and potential remedial exposure.