By ABC Alaska Board Members Ben Callahan, Heather Byrne, Shane Malone, Teresa Campoamor, Jonathan Burnette
Aug. 18, 2026 – The Alaska chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has more than 150 members across our state. Together, we offer more than 560 apprenticeships, roughly one-third of all construction trade apprenticeships in Alaska. Our members understand the challenges and opportunities of building in this state, and we know that success here is built on strong relationships between employers and workers. That is why the Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA) concerns us.
The FLCA, which just passed the House and is now before the Senate, establishes a series of strict, arbitrary deadlines for first-contract labor negotiations between newly-organized unions and employers. After just 120 days of bargaining, a three-person panel of government-appointed arbitrators would take over. From there, they would have the power to dictate wages, working conditions, and more without workers ever getting a vote on the final contract.
While this is problematic on its face, it is completely unworkable for Alaska employers like us. The labor pool in our remote communities is small and specialized. The work we do demands negotiations shaped by those realities and people who understand them. The arbitrators involved in hashing out the details of these contracts would have no required experience in any industry, let alone the complexities of Alaska’s construction industry.
The stakes are significant. Alaska is on the cusp of a major infrastructure buildout, including the Alaska LNG project, road and port expansions, and broadband deployment across rural communities. These are generational investments and they depend on thoughtful labor agreements. This does not call for “faster” labor contracts. It demands better labor contracts. If those contracts take time to get right, we believe it is well worth it.
Supporters of this bill will argue that arbitration only kicks in when talks break down. But the timeline built into the FLCA creates unintended, perverse incentives. The legislation effectively creates a federal backstop at the 120-day mark, which changes the calculus for these negotiations. When both sides know Washington will step in, the incentive to reach a durable, locally-informed agreement weakens.
Because the bill was rushed through the House, the Congressional Budget Office never had the chance to score it. No one really knows what the true cost of this legislation will be. Not only that, but it will also require an expansion of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which President Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating.
We are asking Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski to oppose the FLCA and urge Senate leadership to keep it from the floor. Alaska’s construction sector has built this state for generations. The agreements that make that possible should be shaped by the people doing the work, not handed down by a federal panel that has never set foot on an Alaska jobsite.
The signers are members of the board of directors of Associated Builders and Contractors of Alaska: Shane Malone, President, Alcan Builders, Inc. (Fairbanks); Callahan, Owner, Callahan Construction Company (North Pole); Heather Byrne, Owner & President of Inlet Mechanical, Inc. (Anchorage); Teresa Campoamor, Samson Electric, (Anchorage), Jonathan Burnette, Anchorage Sand and Gravel (Anchorage).
One thought on “Alaska workers deserve a voice in their labor contracts. We oppose the Faster Labor Contracts Act”
When is it management’s place to worry aloud about Alaska workers “deserving a voice” in their labor contracts?
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Alaska workers “deserved a voice” when they asked for the umpteenth time about your pipeline at https://thealaskastory.com/david-ignell-the-lng-project-boils-down-to-transparency-and-trust/, did they not?
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But you mob never answered …weren’t worried about “Alaska workers” then, were you?
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Now you’re worried.
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Outside Big Labor wants a Big Piece of your Inside Big Project and they may have bought enough politicians to make it happen.
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So you call “Alaska workers” to arms …to do what, exactly? …remind what happens if they don’t?
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Make OBL not mess with your Denali Commission, your very own money pipeline from the U.S. Treasury? News flash: Big Labor’s already part of that family.
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Your plaintive jeremiad reads like you’re too weak to hit back hard enough to get their attention, too cheap to buy powerful pols to hit back for you, too dumb to enumerate glaring Constitutional and settled case-law violations inherent in the Faster Labor Contracts Act.
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So the choice seems clear: grow a set and survive, or give up your spot to Big Labor’s alpha dogs and go extinct.
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Your refusing to answer our pipeline questions, your contemptible pipeline cheerleading, and now this sob story lead us to beg forgiveness for preferring the latter.